The 2022-23 MLB offseason featured many top hitters in the free agent market.
Most of them have signed by now, but some remain available: Carlos Correa, Dansby Swanson, Mike Zunino, Gary Sanchez, Jean Segura, Justin Turner, Joey Gallo, Andrew Benintendi, Wil Myers, Michael Conforto, JD Martinez, Matt Carpenter, and others.
Among the hitters still looking for a job is slugger Nelson Cruz.
“Nelson Cruz is here. Seeks 19th season. He has 459 career home runs,” MLB insider Jon Heyman tweeted a few days ago during the Winter Meetings.
Nelson Cruz is here. Seeks 19th season. He has 459 career home runs. pic.twitter.com/xzsFz7sxAf
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 7, 2022
There are a few issues with Cruz’s quest for a good deal.
The first and most obvious one is his age.
Cruz is 42 years old.
He is also declining as a hitter.
Last season, in 124 games and 507 plate appearances with the Washington Nationals, he slashed .234/.313/.337 with 10 home runs and an 85 wRC+.
Cruz Is Declining And Aging
It means he was 15 percent worse than the league-average hitter.
He should be able to land, at least, an incentive-laden one-year deal, but he has Father Time working against him.
After nine straight seasons with an OPS over .800, Cruz finished at .651 this past season with the Nationals.
Sure, he played in a lousy Nationals lineup all year long, but he didn’t help his case much with his performance.
Any team that signs him should have an experienced hitter with some of the most impressive power numbers in the league, but past performance isn’t exactly indicative of future play, especially at 42.
If he has managed to keep himself in top shape, he should be able to keep playing in the bigs, but he is far from the fearsome hitter he was for the entire 2010s and until 2021.
