Padres News: Bob Melvin Discusses Tough Decision to DFA Veteran Nelson Cruz
Early Tuesday morning, the San Diego Padres announced that they had designated veteran designated hitter Nelson Cruz for assignment. In 49 games for the Friars, Cruz hit .245/.283/.399 with five home runs and 23 RBI. He turned 43 years old a few days ago and now finds himself looking for a new place to land.
Padres manager Bob Melvin spoke on the tough decision and how it impacts his club going forward.
This obviously wasn't an easy choice for the Padres as Cruz provided them with a good, veteran voice in the locker room. But his production wasn't matching what the team needed as they search for answers to the struggles this season.
"Obviously a tough one. A big impact in the clubhouse -- across the board, throughout the league the respect that he brings is fantastic. He comes as advertised... leadership, all of the above. I think it's more about versatility here now. We have a couple of guys -- he and (Matt Carpenter) basically just DH'd. We need to be able to give some guys some days off a little bit more. Need a runner here and there and needed to have a little bit more versatility. So unfortunately we had to make this move."
Melvin spoke about versatility and that isn't something that Cruz brings to the table at this point in his career. He signed a one-year deal with San Diego this offseason to hit and be a presence in the locker room.
Despite San Diego letting him go, Melvin is certain that the veteran will land somewhere before the year is done.
"Everybody loves him and the respect around the league is immense and I'm sure he's going to catch on somewhere else."
While it may have not worked out for Cruz in SoCal, he could still provide some team some level of production. He isn't the same player as he was even a few years ago but his respect around the league means something.
