Minnesota Twins Sign Nelson Cruz

At the start of the 2018 season, Kevin Cash and Andy Green, both 40, were the youngest managers in Major League Baseball. This year, the Minnesota Twins hired 37-year-old Rocco Baldelli.

They appear to have not gone all in on youth. On Thursday, they agreed to a one-year, $14.3 million deal with 38-year old slugger Nelson Cruz. The deal features a $12 million, team option for 2020.

Cruz has hit the most home runs over the past five seasons with 203. No other player topped 200. The next closest is Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton with 188, 15 less. Over those five years, Cruz missed only an average of nine games per season.

On Instagram, he thanked the Seattle Mariners and said goodbye. He wrote, ” would like to thank the Mariners ownership especially John for all you have done for me and my hometown, the organization, the coaching staff, my teammates, Ryan, Billy and everyone else in the clubhouse, Rick Rizzs and all of the other reporters I came across, and most importantly the fans for all of your support over the last four seasons.  Seattle, you hold a special place in my heart as you embraced me from the start even when skeptics said I would not succeed in a pitcher friendly park. I hope you enjoyed hearing Dave Sims say Boomstick Baby as much as I did. ”

Cruz will be a much-needed spark for the Twins, who ranked 23rd in the majors last season with 166 home runs. This offseason they’ve added C.J. Cron who hit 30 home runs in 2018 and Jonathan Schoop to the roster.