Nelson Cruz: putting up huge numbers; Latest-- Cruz to Japan? Also, Lew Ford still sucks (reply #54ish)

[thebadge10]

Nelson Cruz is putting up huge numbers in Triple A playing right field. (Trade for Francisco Cordero and Kevin Mench) I didn't realize he was 6'3 and 230lbs. With Josh Hamilton ahead of him it will be interesting to see what Texas does with him. You would think at the worst he would DH. I know he has had some at bats in the bigs with poor results but with those numbers he belongs back up. He has the best numbers of anybody I have seen this year in the minors!

37 Homeruns
98 RBIs
.438 OBP
.721 Slugging
1.159 OBPS
3 errors


(edits: thread title updates --1992)

[DannoMac21]

AAAA player.

[geothite]

With Josh Hamilton ahead of him it will be interesting to see what Texas does with him.

I bet they do nothing with him. He has proven that he is a 4A player. He kills pedestrian AAA pitching, but hasn't got a chance against Major leaguers.

(edit: long quote --1992)

[WisconsinSportsRule]

Does he still have his problems with the strikeout? He needs to fix that before he can become a major leaguer.

[davego]

I wonder if his production would allow some success in Japan?

[JoeHova]

I don't think Cruz has proven he's a 4A player by any stretch of the imagination. He's got terrible ML numbers but they were accumulated in less than 500 plate appearances spread over 3 seasons. Somebody will give him a shot, and I think he deserves it. He's got the best OPS in AAA this year (Branyan is #2), he's got 24 steals (only 7 CS) and he's a good defender with a good arm. All in all, he'd be a very attractive player if not for the horrible 2007 he had in Texas.

[joepepsi]

Laynce Nix is having a good year in Nashville too. I can't believe these two have no value as major leaguers. But they are getting too old to be handed an everyday major league job. Their best hope is do something like Kapler or Dillon; get with a team, have a great Spring, make the roster on Opening Day and never let up.

[JoeHova]

Laynce Nix's OPS is 300 (yes, 300) points worse than Cruz's in AAA this year. Oklahoma is better for hitters than Nashville is, but still, that is a huge difference. I think Cruz can still be a starter in the majors, while I see Nix as more of a 4th-5th outfielder.

[jjfanec]

Cruz is 28 years old and has shown little in the majors. He could stick on a team with a bad offense or a team looking to rebuild. He strikes out a lot in the minors, almost 1/4 of the time, so he will likely strike out more and walk less in the bigs. Once that happens his power numbers will go way down. I think he will be at best a 4/5 OF, but he could get some starts on a bad team that is in desperate need of a bat.

[JoeHova]

Suffice to say that I disagree and think he is better than that, despite his poor performance in 450 ABs so far. There is no reason he can't be league average or better.

 

And what's with this dividing the league into good and bad teams? That's not really how it works. Many good teams are running absolutely terrible players out there at power positions. Look at the Dodgers with Pierre playing LF. Or the Angels with Gary Matthews DHing and Garret Anderson in right or the Twins with an outfield of suck in Delmon Young (who seems to be finally turning it around a bit), Carlos Gomez, and Michael Cuddyer. The Rangers have gotten terrible production out of 1st base. Gary Sheffield appears to be totally washed up as Detroit's DH, Gabe Gross and Cliff Floyd are less than inspiring in Tampa, Melky Cabrera has been horrible for the Yanks, the Mets are stuck using Endy Chavez, Geoff Jenkins has been terrible for Philly, Chris Young is atrocious in Arizona, etc.

[endaround]

Because a good team wouldn't trust Cruz with a job. Funny how you think Brad Nelson is near worthless while Jose Cruz should be given a starting job.

[JoeHova]

Because a good team wouldn't trust Cruz with a job. Funny how you think Brad Nelson is near worthless while Jose Cruz should be given a starting job.

Well, Cruz is doing a lot better than Nelson is, and also his name isn't Jose. I never said I thought Cruz had a ton of value around baseball, what I'm saying is that, in my opinion, he has value on the field. I thought the same about Branyan before this year and I see Cruz as similar in that their demerits are being viewed more prominently than their considerable merits. Cruz is absolutely crushing AAA.

 

My point about the teams is that it's all in isolation. If a team thinks he would be better than whoever they currently have at left or right or DH or whatever, they'd be interested (or should be).

[JoeHova]

Just to follow up, that MLE calculator of Dan Szymborski's that kramnoj found during the Nelson debate has Cruz putting up the equivalent of a .310 BA, .388 OBP, and .631 SLG. That's an OPS of 1.019 which would rank him 2nd in the AL. His OBP would be tied for 9th and his SLG would be 1st. My own MLE's have him at about a .930 OPS (not including Texas's park factor but including Oklahoma's) which would put him 6th in the AL.

 

Now, I'm not saying Cruz is legitimately somewhere between the 2nd and 6th best hitter in the AL. I'm just saying that he is a good player and one that should be given a legit shot to play somewhere. This is only his age 27 season, it's not like he's Roberto Petagine or something. I think he is a productive ML player now and will be for several years.

[thebadge10]

Cruz is 28 years old and has shown little in the majors. He could stick on a team with a bad offense or a team looking to rebuild. He strikes out a lot in the minors, almost 1/4 of the time, so he will likely strike out more and walk less in the bigs. Once that happens his power numbers will go way down. I think he will be at best a 4/5 OF, but he could get some starts on a bad team that is in desperate need of a bat.

He strikes out about the same as Matt Gamel does and everybody thinks he's a lock for the majors.

 

[Tbadder]

Did cruz really get a chance? Serious question, I don't know. Might take a flyer on him. Maybe a DH in the AL?

[Diskono]

He'd be a good DH for the Mariners. Then again, so would a lot of people.

[jjfanec]

He strikes out about the same as Matt Gamel does and everybody thinks he's a lock for the majors.

 

Well he has actually struck out one more time in over 70 less at bats so that is a decent difference in K's, not to mention the fact that he has 4 more years of minor league ball experience and is 6 years older, so his strike outs should be much lower.

 

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Ryan Ludwick was considered a 4A player for years until he was finally given a real shot with the cardinals last year. Now look at him. You never know with players like Cruz. Which is why he will still keep getting a job in the minors and occasional opportunities in the majors.

[twobrewers]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Nelson Cruz was unable to handle the breaking pitches.

 

(At least that was the justification when we traded him. You can't play in MLB if you can't hit a curve)

[Brian the Automator]

Cruz has a ton of holes in his swing. MLB pitchers eat him alive.

[Postseason2006]

He's actually got holes in his bat.

[twobrewers]

I should add - those numbers are still ridiculous!

[Never Outhustled]

Cruz has a ton of holes in his swing. MLB pitchers eat him alive.

He's hitting AAA pitching better than ever, so theres reason to believe he has closed some of those holes. AAA is filled with guys like Dillard and Difilice that have gotten big league hitters out.

[Brian the Automator]

He's hitting AAA pitching better than ever, so theres reason to believe he has closed some of those holes. AAA is filled with guys like Dillard and Difilice that have gotten big league hitters out.

I"m not saying Nelson Cruz can't ever put it together, but over the course of time, AAA has been littered with hitters who've had monster seasons at ages where they should be peaking in the majors.

 

[Never Outhustled]

I"m not saying Nelson Cruz can't ever put it together, but over the course of time, AAA has been littered with hitters who've had monster seasons at ages where they should be peaking in the majors.

True, but because these players previously didn't receive oppurtunities they may have deserved, it suddenly becomes alright to deny Cruz an oppurtunity he's earned?