#NELSON CRUZ UPGRADE#

Austin Meadows, who has taken the lion's share of the DH plate appearances for the Rays, will likely return to a more regular corner outfield role.

#NELSON CRUZ UPGRADE#

The lineup upgrade will come with some playing time shuffling. 321/.406/.582 in the span that has coincided with MLB's crackdown on pitchers using sticky substances. For his part, Cruz is running the lowest strikeout rate of his career, and has been especially productive since the start of June, slashing. He will provide a lift to an offense that strikes out more than any in baseball, and is just hovering around league average. MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reports the Rays took on the rest of Cruz's salary, about $5 million. Cruz, 41, signed a one-year, 15 million contract with the Washington Nationals over. Cruz - whose expiring contract helped make him an option for Tampa - will immediately be the team's highest-paid player. The ageless wonder Nelson Cruz, a free agent to be, could find himself traded for the second consecutive season. Per usual, they are succeeding on one of MLB's smallest budgets. The defending AL champion Rays currently hold the league's top wild card spot, and are just a game back of the Boston Red Sox entering Thursday night's games. The Twins could still be active dealing more talent to contenders - Michael Pineda and Andrelton Simmons are in the final years of their contracts, and rumors have also swirled around young stars José Berríos and Byron Buxton. The beloved slugger is viewed as an excellent mentor for younger players in addition to his hitting prowess. An abject disaster of a spring made Cruz’s ever-productive bat too appealing an asset to hold onto.

Instead, Minnesota’s season ran aground quickly in 2021.

Nelson cruz