Enrique Cruz?

[TabbertBB]

Does anybody know what ever happened to "Young" Enrique Cruz that the Brewers "had" to keep on their roster about 7 years ago? He was going to be the next greatest thing and couldn't be sent to the minors or he would have been lost that year.

[razzzorsharp]

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Enrique-Cruz.shtml

 

There is a link to some stats to see where he has been.

[razzzorsharp]

He was also traded for Shouse.

[TabbertBB]

So he batted only 1 other time in the Bigs in 1 game with Cincinnati. .083 in the Bigs. And he was going to be something great in the future when he was with the Brewers???

I think we got the better deal with the use of Shouse.

[endaround]

Who said he was going to be great? He was a Rule 5 pick for a reason

[mothershipconnection]

Nobody expected Cruz to be a future hall of famer. He was simply a good prospect that the Brewers could get for almost free - but only if they kept him on the roster all year. That was a pretty small price to pay because they sucked and that roster spot otherwise would've been spent on a league minimum scrub who doesn't help by more than a game or so. Like a lot of young prospects, he never came near his ceiling.

[Jimbo]

Who said he was going to be great? He was a Rule 5 pick for a reason

I believe he was a second round pick for the Mets. He must have had potential. And Melvin was able to steal this second rounder for $50K. Like getting an additional draft pick.

[joepepsi]

Well this article from back in the day has Expos GM Omar Minaya saying some pretty good things about Enrique:

As for the Mets, though their winter game plan is still incomplete, they have already gone a long way toward cleansing their clubhouse with the signings of Tom Glavine and Mike Stanton (whose characters equal the quality of their pitching) while ridding themselves of Rey Ordoñez. If they somehow succeed in clearing outfield baggage by dumping Jeromy Burnitz on Colorado and sending Roger Cedeno to Texas and then can sign Cliff Floyd (another high character guy), they will have had themselves one heck of a winter, and nobody will care that they let Edgardo Alfonzo go or lost a potential premium shortstop prospect, Enrique Cruz, in the Rule 5 draft.

 

It used to be the Rule 5 draft was nothing more than a big yawn that got the winter meetings started. But in this new world of baseball economics in which so many teams are looking to keep their payrolls under $60 million, the it suddenly has become a signature event. It only costs $25,000 to look at a player for six weeks of spring training, and $50,000 if a club deems to keep him.

 

The Brewers, with the first pick, took Cruz (who hit .264 with 29 homers and 86 stolen bases in 414 games in the lower minors for the Mets these past two seasons) and immediately tabbed him as their shortstop of the future. And Minaya, who signed both Cruz and Mets' other highly touted shortstop prodigy, Jose Reyes, put his endorsement on the Brewer pick.

 

"They got themselves a very, very good player," Minaya said, carefully choosing his words so as not to offend his old bosses with the Mets. "I don't want to get into comparisons with Reyes, but Cruz, even though he's never played above A-ball, is going to be well worth it for Milwaukee."

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/2002/12/17/2002-12-17_give_in_to_expos__that_d_be_.html

[And That]

As an aside, DO NOT GOOGLE ENRIQUE CRUZ.

 

Unless your name is Katuluu.

[1992casey]

I made that mistake last night, Toby. You're right. Save that stuff for Katuluu. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif