Nelson Cruz turned down Mariners 5 year $75m offer

[seahawksfan234]

Rumor: Nelson Cruz turned down five years, $75 million from Mariners | HardballTalk

I think this could be a blessing in disguise for the Mariners. I want the Mariners to add an outfield bat but I have concerns about Nelson Cruz. I'm not a huge fan of giving an injury prone 33 year old outfielder a 5 year contract. As he gets older he is only going to be more likely to get hurt and I don't like the idea of giving Nelson Cruz $15m per year for his 33-37 year old seasons.

This is also good news in the regard that it means the Mariners very likely have around another $15-$20m per year to add to the payroll.

 

[blstoker]

I agree, Cruz is way overrated and I really don't want him here. If we look at his spits, he's terrible away from Arlington (.294/.356/.556 vs. .242/.299/.433). $15 million/year for 5 years is way too much for him.

 

[YourFriendGannon]

Unbelievable

 

[seahawksfan234]

I agree, Cruz is way overrated and I really don't want him here. If we look at his spits, he's terrible away from Arlington (.294/.356/.556 vs. .242/.299/.433). $15 million/year for 5 years is way too much for him.

Agreed. Plus his injury concerns are only going to worsen as he gets older. Not sure what the Mariners are thinking trying to sign an injury prone outfielder who cannot hit away from Texas for his 33-37 years.

 

[blstoker]

Agreed. Plus his injury concerns are only going to worsen as he gets older. Not sure what the Mariners are thinking trying to sign an injury prone outfielder who cannot hit away from Texas for his 33-37 years.

Exactly, if we want an injury prone OF, then we have one who's played for them the last few years who plays really well and when healthy fans really like....

 

[Podunkparte]

There's a lot in the rumor mill about this being completely false. I can't see him turning that down and I don't think we really offered it. Could be BS from his agent to try to drive up cost. Doubt it works.

 

[seattlefan75]

Cruz is an idiot he should have taken that money and ran with it a 33 year old outfielder getting a 5 year 75mil starting gig, he gets hurt and got caught juicing...

but i am on the side of "glad he didnt accept the deal"

 

[dude82]

There's a lot in the rumor mill about this being completely false. I can't see him turning that down and I don't think we really offered it. Could be BS from his agent to try to drive up cost. Doubt it works.

Agreed. I can't see a player in his situation turning down a contract that would give him more money than he's worth for more years than he should get given all the things working against his getting a contract offer like that (33 years old, recently suspended for involvement with a company selling PEDs, has only played in more than 128 games in a season once, is most likely a product of his ballpark, etc.).

 

[dude82]

Cruz is an idiot he should have taken that money and ran with it a 33 year old outfielder getting a 5 year 75mil starting gig, he gets hurt and got caught juicing...

but i am on the side of "glad he didnt accept the deal"

He would be an idiot to turn that down, but there's no proof that he was ever offered it, just rumors.

 

[cezero]

We have no right handed bats worth anything besides Franklin (who is probably going to be traded), and Morales (who might not sign with the M's).

Zero right handed hitters worth anything.

Zilch.

Please do not talk about Smoak being a switch hitter.

The M's need true righties in the lineup. Desperately. I agree that $75 million for Cruz is too much, but so is $240 for Cano.

There's a dearth of free agent righties who can fit into a field position that will help the M's defensively and help the batting lineup simultaneously, and we'll have to overpay for any of them.

There's trade possibilities, of course, but Kemp may have to be packaged with Price, which would probably cost Walker.

You want to see another miserable year, not trying to improve the outfield and not getting good hitting righties will turn the trick.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Its true we have No outfielders and no right handed hitters. But I dont even know if you can rely on his outfield defense. Its probably about as bad as Ibanez's or Morse's.

 

[cezero]

Its true we have No outfielders and no right handed hitters. But I dont even know if you can rely on his outfield defense. Its probably about as bad as Ibanez's or Morse's.

actually, yeah. i wasn't aware his dWAR was so bad, so thanks.

he's asking too much, even for the desperate m's.

i still don't know where a decent right handed bat is going to come from, especially if somebody actually gives Morales the 3/$30 million he's seeking.

 

[seahawksfan234]

The M's need true righties in the lineup. Desperately. I agree that $75 million for Cruz is too much, but so is $240 for Cano. .

I get your point but I would rather overpay for a great player (Cano) than overpay for a mediocre injury prone one (Cruz)

To those of you saying it is just a rumor and could quite possibly be false, that is certainly a possibility.

But I would not rule out the Mariners offering him 5 years $75m. When the Mariners were in the Cano sweepstakes it looked as if they were the only ones willing to go over $200m. I believe the Yankees had offered him something in the $170 range or so. Cano is a great player and I'm pretty sure we are all happy to have him but we all also agree that we overpaid him by a lot. Unfortunately that is what it will take to get guys in Seattle, especially after the story of dysfunction around the front office.

It has been reported multiple times that the Mariners are desperate for hitting, rightfully so. Therefore I would not rule out a ridiculous offer like that to Cruz. I say go for Kemp. If you're going to have a right handed outfielder take up $15-$20m of salary space then I would rather see someone like Kemp than someone like Cruz.

 

[seahawksfan234]

actually, yeah. i wasn't aware his dWAR was so bad, so thanks.

he's asking too much, even for the desperate m's.

i still don't know where a decent right handed bat is going to come from, especially if somebody actually gives Morales the 3/$30 million he's seeking.

I find it highly unlikely Morales gets 3 years $30m from a team outside Seattle.

I think it is safe to rule out the entire NL, right?

If that is the case then his only options are in the AL. That gives him 14 options outside Seattle. 10 of those teams would have to give up a first round pick to sign him.

Of the 4 teams with protected picks:
Blue Jays: Solid at DH with Adam Lind.
Astros: Unwilling to spend the money.
White Sox: Adam Dunn is signed through next season.
Twins: Only one that I can think of that remotely makes sense. Have not heard much about them this offseason though.

Just running a google search, then going to news in relation to Kendrys Morales gathers just about nothing in terms of other teams pursuing him.

Morales rejected the Mariners qualifying offer but in the end he may be forced to accept a 1 or 2 year deal from the Mariners. I don't see any market for Morales at all right now.

I'm in favor of retaining him. Offensively he was really solid. He offers nothing other than his bat but is a nice piece in the lineup. Plus I'm not sure how the Mariners could really do better at DH at this point.

 

[gohusk]

If that were the offer then Z's dumber than the recent article made him out to be, and Cruz is even dumber. We can't sink that much money into a player of Cruz' age after that Cano deal. I think it's nothing but a rumor though. Nobody could be that dumb.

 

[gowazzu02]

Where would Morales play now that we have hart and Lomo

 

[seahawksfan234]

Where would Morales play now that we have hart and Lomo

DH. He's a much better hitter than Logan Morrison.

 

[Podunkparte]

LF Morrison
1B Hart
DH Morales

or

LF Morrison
RF Hart
1B Smoak
DH Morales

I prefer option 1 since I'd like to see someone glove worthy manning one of the corner OF spots. I wouldn't be opposed to giving Smoak another chance to see if he can build on his finish last year though unless we get a chance to trade him for something actually worth while.

 

[seahawksfan234]

LF Morrison
1B Hart
DH Morales

or

LF Morrison
RF Hart
1B Smoak
DH Morales

I prefer option 1 since I'd like to see someone glove worthy manning one of the corner OF spots. I wouldn't be opposed to giving Smoak another chance to see if he can build on his finish last year though unless we get a chance to trade him for something actually worth while.

I prefer option 2 with Morrison on the bench.

 

[johnfree63]

LF Morrison
1B Hart
DH Morales

or

LF Morrison
RF Hart
1B Smoak
DH Morales

I prefer option 1 since I'd like to see someone glove worthy manning one of the corner OF spots. I wouldn't be opposed to giving Smoak another chance to see if he can build on his finish last year though unless we get a chance to trade him for something actually worth while.

Seeing as he went .203/.294/.392 after the All-Star break, I would say there's no where to go but up. I would rather see

Morrison 1B
Hart RF
Morales DH