Ranking the Top 10 Landing Spots for Nelson Cruz in MLB Free Agency

Somebody is going to get a really good 41-year-old hitter whenever Nelson Cruz signs with his next team. 

The seven-time All-Star is a free agent for the second straight year after splitting time in 2021 with the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays. 

He was dealt by the Twins after it became clear they would not be competitive in the American League, while the Rays were on their way to the AL's best record. 

Cruz was initially nearly as good as he ever was, though his production dipped after arriving in Tampa. 

He hit just .226/.283/.442 over the last 55 games with Tampa, but the larger sample size shows he's aged gracefully.

Of his 42.4 career WAR, Cruz has amassed 20.8 since his age-35 season.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the top landing spots for an impact player on a short-term deal.

The Yankees were oddly quiet leading up to the Dec. 2 work stoppage. Normally major players in free agency, they watched two of the top shortstops on the market go elsewhere. 

Everyone will be watching to see what they do whenever the lockout ends. 

Cruz is probably not at the top of the Yankees' wish list. That would be shortstops Carlos Correa and Trevor Story, or perhaps 2016 National League MVP Kris Bryant. 

The Yankees, however, could stand to benefit from having Cruz on a cheaper, one-year deal. 

This is an unlikely scenario, but given the Yankees' deep pockets and lack of much free-agent activity thus far, it's worth keeping an eye on.

While the biggest questions for the reigning World Series champions center around whether franchise icon first baseman Freddie Freeman will be re-signed, and what Atlanta might do with the vacated outfield, finding an answer at DH will also be important. 

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos might be in favor of the kind of short-term deal Cruz would command.

Whether this makes sense for Atlanta depends almost entirely on what the plan is going forward with Marcell Ozuna. If Atlanta keeps him, he is the in-house solution at DH. If Atlanta decides to unload the $53 million he's owed, bringing in Cruz would be the next logical step. 

All of this seems unlikely but still perhaps plausible.

A reunion for Cruz in Seattle should not be out of the question given the Mariners' need to add another impact bat. 

Seattle's offense had the fourth-lowest OPS in baseball last year, and signing Cruz would help with that, even if he's not the same player who signed as a free agent there seven years ago. 

The biggest splashes Seattle has made so far this offseason are signing American League Cy Young winner Robbie Ray and trading for All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier from the San Diego Padres. 

The Mariners may also be in the mix for Kris Bryant and Trevor Story. Whether they land or miss on those higher-profile free agents, Cruz could be signed for a much shorter, less expensive deal with the potential for a significant impact at the plate.

Score this one for another Cruz reunion suggestion. Why wouldn't the Twins be interested in bringing him back?

Cruz slashed an impressive .304/.386/.598 with 76 home runs and 191 RBI in 1,081 plate appearances in two-and-a-half years for Minnesota. 

It was just about a year ago when the Twins signed him to a one-year, $13 million contract to stay in Minnesota before he was traded to Tampa toward the deadline. But trading Cruz was not about him losing a step as much as it was about making the most of an overall losing situation for the Twins. 

How close do they believe they are to competing again in the AL Central? If they believe in themselves, they should be among the long line of teams pursuing Cruz.

San Diego wasn't eighth in payroll last year and fourth going into 2022 just to have a middle-of-the-pack offense. The Padres dealt with injuries last year and also changed managers, firing Jayce Tingler and bringing in three-time Manager of the Year Bob Melvin. 

But what they really need is more thump behind Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. That's where Cruz, with the universal designated hitter anticipated, enters the picture. 

The underachieving Padres, who ranked 17th in OPS last season, are a National League team that could certainly stand to benefit from a designated hitter.

Cruz is still tearing the cover off the ball, with a 52.5 percent hard-hit rate in 2021, according to Statcast.

Cruz was linked to the Dodgers a year ago in free agency and reportedly would have been interested in joining them had there been a DH.

Since it is widely expected for it to happen in this round of labor negotiations, it opens the door for Cruz and the Dodgers to re-engage. 

The Dodgers have already lost two top-end free agents in Max Scherzer and Corey Seager. Landing Cruz does not compare, but it provides an impact bat at a place normally full of them.

There had been rumors linking Cruz to the White Sox when he was a free agent last year. 

Cruz makes sense in Chicago, on either side of town, but especially the South Side where the White Sox ranked seventh in OPS (.758) last season. The 41-year-old had an .832 OPS last year for Minnesota and Tampa Bay. 

Adding Cruz to a lineup with Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu could be the difference between this offense going from good to great when it matters in the postseason against teams like the Astros.

The Cardinals have shown themselves to be in win-now mode, more than doubling 40-year-old Adam Wainwright's salary after a renaissance 2021 season. 

They made bold trades last year to acquire Nolan Arenado and then later J.A. Happ (now a free agent) and Jon Lester (now retired). All-time great catch Yadier Molina has said 2022 will be the final season of his Hall of Fame-worthy career. 

If there was ever a time for St. Louis to be interested in Cruz, it's now.

The Cardinals' priority is strengthening their bullpen, but they were also average offensively last year. They ranked 15th in OPS (.725), tied for 15th in home runs (198) and were 19th in RBI (678).

Perhaps no playoff team showed a greater need to upgrade at the plate than Milwaukee. Pitching carried the Brewers throughout the season, and the major question of whether there was enough offense eventually revealed itself. 

Of the teams to advance past the Wild Card Game, only the San Francisco Giants had a lower OPS in the playoffs. 

Cruz should be an obvious designated hitter target for Milwaukee. 

It wouldn't make up for July 28, 2006, when the Brewers traded then-outfield prospect Cruz and free-agent-to-be Carlos Lee to the Rangers for closer Francisco Cordero and outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix. 

But it would work well for 2022.

The Blue Jays were among the potential landing spots for Cruz when he was on the trade market before last year's deadline. He ultimately ended up with the Rays, where his production tailed off. 

But in free agency, the Blue Jays should still have some interest in the veteran slugger. 

Their priorities should be on pitching and defense, as Toronto didn't struggle scoring runs or performing at the plate, leading baseball in home runs and OPS. 

As good as they were in 2021, it wasn't enough to get them to the postseason. Signing a longtime, proven performer in Cruz to pair with this young group, a year after bringing in George Springer, could go a long way for the Blue Jays.