Sunday Marked Anniversary of Seattle Mariners Signing Prolific Hitter Nelson Cruz
The last month of 2024 began on Saturday. And there's one more big event for the Seattle Mariners, and the rest of the league, to take part in before the calendar rolls to the 2025: the MLB Winter Meetings.
The annual event takes place from Dec. 9-12 in Dallas, and the Mariners will likely be one of the first teams at the discussion table.
But before we can look ahead, we have to look back. Saturday marked the 10-year anniversary of one of the more prolific free agent signings in Seattle's history.
The Mariners signed seven-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger winner Nelson Cruz on Dec. 1, 2015.
On this day nine years ago, the @Mariners signed the 2014 AL HR leader Nelson Cruz to a four-year contract.
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 1, 2024
Cruz's numbers in those four seasons (606 G):
.284/.362/.546
163 HR
414 RBI
.908 OPS pic.twitter.com/KLneNbO49Q
Cruz's signing came one year after the team netted eight-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger Robinson Cano, who played a major part in Cruz moving to the Pacific Northwest.
In four years with Seattle, Cruz batted .284 with 163 home runs and 414 RBIs. He had a .908 OPS over that span. With Cruz in the lineup, the Mariners offense ranked fifth in home runs in 2015, third in 2016, 17th in 2017 and 17th in 2018. They also ranked 10th in batting average in 2016, 11th in 2017 and eighth in 2018. They were also tied for sixth in RBIs in 2016.
Remember when Nelson Cruz was on pace for 162 home runs to start the Mariners season in 2018?!😏
— Seattle Mariners ON Tap (@MarinersONTap) January 11, 2022
Loved that Seattle teams 🥲 pic.twitter.com/js6F0b02za
Cruz became one of the best hitters in Seattle history in just four seasons. Among franchise players with at least 500 plate appearances, he ranks 13th all-time in Mariners history in Baseball Reference WAR (13th), sixth in home runs (163), 17th in batting average (.284), 10th in on-base percentage (.362), third in slugging (.546), fifth in OPS (.908) and first in OPS+ (148).
Seattle's offense didn't coincide with a playoff berth. The best record they had during Cruz's tenure was 89-73. They finished second in the American League West once and third twice.
Seattle hasn't signed a free-agent hitter the caliber of Cruz, or Cano, in the six years since Cruz signed with the Minnesota Twins before the 2019 regular season.
Maybe the Winter Meetings can prove an opportunity for the Mariners to bring over a player that can make the kind of impact Cruz did.
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