Hanshin Going After Nelson Cruz
Sanspo is reporting that the Hanshin Tigers are planning to aggressively pursue Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz this offseason, to replace the disappointing Lew Ford. NPB interest in Cruz has been rumored before, and I actually thought this might have been the guy that SoftBank was really after when I was writing about Barry Bonds last summer.
This seems like a great move if Hanshin can pull it off. Cruz has always been solid at AAA but failed to impress in his one extended shot at the big leagues. He raked last year, to the tune of .342/.429/.695 in AAA and .330/.421/.609 with the Rangers. I thought there might be a place for him in the Texas outfield next season, so we’ll have to see what develops.
23/10/2008 at 1:46 am Permalink
I agree. Great move. He’s one of the stranger cases in baseball…about as AAAA as you can get. He might explode with the right change of scene.
23/10/2008 at 8:21 am Permalink
He has been AAAA, but after this year he looks like he is finally ready. His Majors number per great. I think he deserves the starting nod finally.
Plus I hope he stays in the MLB since I have him on my incredible deep dynasty team as a sleeper keeper. 🙂
23/10/2008 at 10:34 am Permalink
I doubt the Rangers will sell Cruz to the Tigers after his big numbers down the stretch. Especially if Milton Bradley leaves via free agency(which I feel what will happen as he’ll ask for way too much money and years).
I’m afraid the chance to get Cruz has passed. A year ago, NPB teams could of probably had Cruz for nothing. But after a strong run down the stretch, I find it hard to believe that the Rangers will sell Cruz to Hanshin.
23/10/2008 at 11:55 am Permalink
I guess we’ll find out over the offseason. This reminds of Hanshin’s interest in Marcus Thames a few years ago. In that case, they couldn’t get a deal done and Thames went on to become a respectable MLB power threat. So Hanshin had the right idea then, and I think they do now as well. We’ll see how this turns out for them.