Designated hitter Nelson Cruz and the Minnesota Twins agree on a $ 13 million one-year contract, sources familiar with the deal said ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Cruz, 40, has been a key element in the formation of the Squad Bomb Twins. And he’ll be back in the middle of it in 2021.
The hitter, who reached 0.303 with 16 home runs, 33 RBIs and an OPS + (169) career record in the season shortened by the pandemic, finished sixth in the American League MVP vote and was selected as Man of the Year Marvin Miller in annual player choice awards.
The award goes to the player whom his colleagues “respect the most based on their leadership in the field and in the community”. Cruz donated a fire engine and an ambulance and helped build a police station in his hometown, Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic, and his Boomstick 23 Foundation contributed wheelchairs and crutches, and he set up a clinic to provide medical and dental care.
His mission to help his hometown and other cities in the Dominican Republic led him to receive the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award at the 2020 ESPYS.
The designated hitter played last season in a $ 12 million deal after hitting 41 home runs, the team’s record, reaching 108 RBIs in 2019, despite two passages on the injured list due to a wrist problem. He has reached the 40 homer mark four times in his career; Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth hold the mark of all time with five seasons. Cruz was also the 57th player in major league history to hit 400 career home runs.
His 0.992 OPS in 2020 ranked fourth in LA and was the fifth best mark in MLB history for a player in his season of 39 years or older, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. And he led all the major leagues with an OPS of 1,182 in the pitches from the strike zone for the past two seasons.
From 2014 to 2018, no player in the main competitions hit more home runs than Cruz (203). In 16 major league seasons, Cruz, a six-time All-Star with three Silver Slugger Awards, hit 417 home runs with 1,152 RBIs and a hitting average of 0.278 for the Twins, Mariners, Orioles, Rangers and Brewers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.