Should the Baltimore Orioles re-sign Nelson Cruz?

Nelson Cruz surprised the masses last year when he absolutely destroyed the baseball with the Baltimore Orioles. He was coming off of a PED suspension the season prior and was not getting any younger at age 33. His defensive value, or lack thereof, essentially negated his offensive value the three seasons leading up to the ’14 season. Certainly the hitter friendly confines of Camden Yards would suit the right-handed hitter well, but Cruz actually hit much better on the road than at his home ballpark in 2014. All said, Nelson Cruz was a new man last season.

He churned a stupendous .271/.333/.525 slash line in 678 plate appearances, which comes out to a 137 wRC+, in the middle of the American League East Champion’s lineup. Blasting 40 long balls out of the park, the outfielder/designated hitter led all of baseball in home runs in 2014. Despite his negative defensive value and poor base running, his 3.9 fWAR tied for seventeenth among qualified outfielders. From an offensive standpoint, Cruz was tied for the ninth-best hitting outfielder among, again, qualifiers in baseball according to the offensive statistic wRC+.

The O’s got their monies worth with Cruz last season, as they spent $8 million to acquire the former Ranger off the free agent market. Looking at Fangraphs’ Value section, based on his fWAR he was worth approximately $21.3 million in 2014. I would say with confidence that Dan Duquette, the Orioles general manager, won this deal. But the past is in the past and with Cruz having entered free agency the question remains: should the Orioles re-sign Nelson Cruz?

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Well, first we need to understand his demands and they reportedly are not cheap. CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported earlier in the week that Cruz is seeking a four-year contract for big money. If he receives the contract he desires, it will take him into his age-38 season. Personally, I am not too crazy about paying a one-tooled player who predominately is a designated hitter for his age 34-38 seasons. It is a dangerous investment; one that I am fairly confident will backfire on the signing team.

Ron Darling also brought up an interesting point on MLB Now the other day. He said — I am paraphrasing here — that the Orioles may want to keep the designated hitter position open next season so when Matt Wieters, their All-Star catcher, returns he will be able to be their DH until he is comfortable and healthy enough to slide back to his regular catching duties. Catching is evidently strenuous and presumably more so for a guy who is coming off Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. It is not crazy to assert that Wieters should spend a decent amount of time at DH considering he has not caught an MLB game since early May.

Plus, they have a player by the name of Caleb Joseph as their backup catcher. Defensively, he is spectacular, as he is one of the best pitch-framers in the game and accrued an impressive 8 DRS (defensive runs saved) behind the dish last year. I like the idea, despite his offensive shortcomings, of having both Joseph and Wieters in the lineup. Likely, Buck Showalter will not employ this strategy because Wieters is a pretty dang great catcher when he is healthy.

Baltimore will need a DH — whether it be by committee or not — in 2015 if they do not re-sign Cruz. I just thought Darling’s thoughts were interesting and addressed an element of this situation that does not pop into the forefront of one’s mind.

Wieters’ health aside, I truly believe the Orioles should let Cruz depart. That is, if he does not drop his asking price significantly. His 2014 seems to be a bit of an aberration and buying high on a guy is a big “no” in any business. The money saved by not signing Cruz could be used to re-sign Nick Markakis and/or another player(s) who give you a better bang for your buck. This will subsequently put the O’s in a better position to compete in ’15 and in the future. Also, who knows, Christian Walker needs a place to play next year and Henry Urrutia could bounce back.