The Tampa Bay Rays were unable to reel in free agent slugger Nelson Cruz, but there’s still quite a few players out there that can help the team make a playoff run in 2019.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reported that veteran slugger Nelson Cruz is headed to Minneapolis, having signed a one year deal $14 million deal with the Minnesota Twins. The deal also includes a $12 million team option for a second year, which very realistically could get picked up.
This is great news for the Twins, who had a disappointing 2018, and bad news for the Tampa Bay Rays, who had hoped to add Cruz’s consistent offensive production to their line up. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that the Rays were hoping to sign Cruz for something closer to $10 million, so it appears that they were simply outbid.
With Cruz off the table, the Rays will need to look for a strong bat elsewhere if they hope to compete in the AL East. Last year, the Red Sox and Yankees ranked first and second respectively in runs per game, and both teams will retain their strong offensive cores heading in to 2019.
Luckily for the Rays, there are still some good options available, but they might want to act fast or risk losing another potential free agent to a team whose willing to outspend them, which, knowing the Rays, could be just about anyone.
$10 million seemed to be their limit for Cruz, but it’s not outrageous to think that they’d be willing to spend a little more on a younger player that carries less risk moving forward. We’re not going to see them come out of nowhere and spring for Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, but there’s still some guys they could pick up from the current pool of free agents that could turn a few heads while fitting their budget. Let’s take a look at a few.