Texas Rangers give Nelson Cruz qualifying offer
By Mike Dyce
The Texas Rangers extended a qualifying offer to outfielder and slugger Nelson Cruz. The Rangers declined on all other free agents including closing pitcher Joe Nathan.
Cruz missed the final 50 games of the Major League Baseball season after he was suspended for his connections to the Biogenesis clinic in Miami. Before that Cruz had hit 27 home runs and batted .266. The Rangers clubhouse was very supportive of Nelson Cruz during the suspension and welcomed him back for the tiebreaker game against the Tampa Bay Rays that they lost.
All in all, 13 players officially received an offer: Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, Curtis Granderson, Ervin Santana, Shin-Soo Choo, Kendrys Morales, Brian McCann, Mike Napoli, Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew, Carlos Beltran and Ubaldo Jimenez.
Those players have one week to decide if they want to accept the offer worth $14.1 million for one season. If he declines he hits the open market and can negotiate a multi-year deal, that doesn’t mean he won’t re-sign with the Rangers though. If he gets an offer, his new team will surrender a top draft pick. Teams with protected first round picks will surrender their second picks.
Cruz is expected to decline the offer and look for a multi-year deal but has said that he likes Texas and wants to stay.
#Rangers extend qualifying offer to Nelson Cruz, decline on all other free agents (including Joe Nathan)
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) November 4, 2013