The market surrounding Nelson Cruz has been relatively quiet. Spring training is slowly approaching and slugger still remains unsigned. After a 50-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs, teams no longer consider his bat a priority. The Texas Rangers have a qualifying offer on Cruz, hurting his signing potential even more, but one team that might be interested is the Seattle Mariners.
Right now, any team interested in Cruz would have to give up a draft pick for the outfielder. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Mariners are active in negotiations for Cruz, but his price tag will be the main factor in whether or not the team signs him. Seattle is still considering a few more offseason moves before heading off to spring training can general manager Jack Zduriencik is discussing things with Cruz's agent, Adam Katz.
"I've had a lot of discussions with Adam Katz, his agent," Zduriencik said, via MLB.com. "There's an economic factor tied to that, as well as losing your draft pick. Would I like to have him here? Absolutely. I'd love to have Nelson Cruz in this lineup. But how much do you have to pay him, how many years is it going to be and are you willing to lose another draft pick? Those are the things you have to factor."
The Mariners are interested in Cruz even though the team did just sign Robinson Cano to an extremely large contract, so it makes sense that finances are the priority in this deal. Seattle already lost a second-round draft pick to the Yankees for Cano. To get Cruz, the team would have to give up a third-round pick for the outfielder.
If the Mariners do not work out, a return to the Texas Rangers is certainly still an option. It was assumed Texas had no use for him after signing Shin-Soo Choo, but Rosenthal believes the Rangers will end up being the fallback for the outfielder. With the outfielder free agent market not very exciting next year, the Rangers might look to scoop up Cruz now instead of waiting until later.
The Rangers still need a big right-handed bat that can play play both the outfield or be a designated hitter. Cruz fits that description perfectly. They might have to let someone go to keep Cruz around just from a money standpoint. Trading someone like Mitch Moreland would not be an issue.
Cruz is running out of time to get interest. Missing the better portion of the 2013 season is certainly not helping his value considering it was for performance enhancing drugs and he still has the Biogenesis cloud hanging directly over his head.