Late Monday night, Nelson Cruz re-signed with the Minnesota Twins on a one-year $13 million deal as first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deal brings Cruz back to the Twin Cities for his third consecutive season with the Minnesota Twins as the full time designated hitter and veteran leader in the club house.
Cruz’s presence in the Twins clubhouse during this time has been monumental to the team, as he has served as the unofficial team captain with his 16 seasons of MLB experience. He also has been an extremely active in the community, winning the Marvin Miller Award.
In his 173 games with the Minnesota Twins, Cruz has posted a .308 batting average, 141 runs batted in, 197 hits, 400 total bases, and an impressive 1.020 on base plus slugging percentage all in just 735 plate appearances that’s excellent.
This doesn’t even include his power Cruz has been the biggest power source of the Minnesota Twins’ Bomba Squad for the past two seasons, leading the team with a total of 57 home runs since the start of 2019.
Cruz also has career milestones to reach with his return to the Minnesota Twins in 2021. Cruz currently sits with 417 career home runs, having Edwin Encarnacion and Hall of Famer Billy Williams as the next to surpass on the all-time home run list.
Encarnacion currently sits at 424 career home runs, while Williams has 426. Encarnacion is active, but still remains unsigned. As long as MLB plays a full 162 season, Cruz will certainly surpass both players on the all time home run list. If he has a 36 homer season (very realistic), he has the opportunity to pass Carl Yastrzemski at 39th on the all-time list.
Minnesota Twins fans can also rejoice in the competitive edge Nelson Cruz gives the Twins against the division rival Chicago White Sox. In his 26 games against the team as a member of the Minnesota Twins, Cruz has hit 11 home runs, 34 RBI, and posted a .408 batting average against the rival Sox. Those are great numbers.
On the fashion side of this re-signing, Minnesota Twins fans can be hopeful in seeing a return of the Bomba Squad Bathrobes that Cruz introduced to the Twins clubhouse last season. Many players on the 2020 Twins roster sported their own robes as the shortened season came to a close over September, and hopefully they can help lead into a more positive postseason in 2021.