Nelson Cruz
First things first, Nelson Cruz is a 35-year-old outfielder turned designated hitter. He had a monster year at the newly renovated Safeco Field. Renovated in the sense that the outfield fences were brought in to allow the hitters to slug more successfully, much to the amusement of Cruz. He ended the year with great stats all-around, finishing at .302/.369/.566 with 44 home runs and 93 RBIs. He won the Silver Slugger for 2015 in the American League as well, and ranked 8th in the American League in batting average. Only Chris Davis had more home runs (47) than Cruz in 2015.
On the other side of this, like Cespedes, Cruz had a lot of strikeouts. Cruz had the third most in 2015, at 164. He only trailed J.D. Martinez (178) and Chris Davis (208). Cruz is almost always at the top of the strikeout list. Because of this, Cruz is also at a much lower career split of .273/.334/.510.
To add to all of this, Cruz is a much better hitter away from Safeco Field, especially on the power side. Cruz had 10 more home runs on the road than at home last year. The main reason Cruz was brought to Seattle was for his ability to go deep. They wanted him to make a power lineup similar to that in Toronto. The problem now is that Cruz has no support in the lineup. Robinson Cano is trending downwards and has not looked like an All-Star caliber player since he left New York. On the other side of Cruz is Kyle Seager, an inconsistent third baseman who is coming off a rough 2015, slashing .266/.328/.451.
With little support to help Cruz, an increase in home games against more difficult teams and pitchers in 2016, and another year of age, expect the decline of Cruz’s career to start.