Seattle, presumably, was going to give up the store for Upton.
Though the amount of time control is short on Cruz, could JD
make a splash by offering Cruz to Seattle?

Cruz seems like a very affordible COF/DH offensive big chip
for many teams needing such. The market looks good for a trade.
$10mm seems like a bargain, even short term, with a workable extention.

It's been time... but I doubt it gets done

Seattle wouldn't be interested in one year of Cruz. I'm not real sure why they were interested in three semi-expensive years of Upton (if they ever were). They're young and their window isn't open yet.

I'm sure JD has had some talks about Cruz, but since we haven't heard his name leaked in other markets, I have to assume nobody was impressed with his last two years.

I am all in when it comes to trading "Hold your breath there is a fly ball the RF!" Trade him to Wal Mart for all I care. He will be for always known as Texas' Bill Buckner. No way to get around it.

Who wants a one dimenional (Streak hitter with power) who is not going to be the 'guy' in any lineup? No way Seattle wants this guy and if they do what are they willing to give up? Seattle has one player I would trade the house for and he is going to finish his career in Seattle.

Hey send him to Philly they seem gullible!

yes, trade cruz or Wash will play him every day in RF.

@Hench
Seattle is looking for most any offense to bring a crowd. Thier ave. attendance
is hovering just above club collapse. Z's head has to be on the block in 2013.
I'm sure JD has touched base on possibilities as you say, so maybe all moot.

The Figgin's fallout has thier GM all twisted on any sane deal. He has one bullet
and it's pull the trigger for power and offense. He can't wait for the team to mature.
Neither can thier fans. Seattle may get a new BBall team, but lose a baseball team.

I can't see Cruz staying here through spring training & starting season as a Ranger.

Well, I get why everyone is down on Cruz because of his questionable OF play and injury history. However, The Rangers will probably hold onto him because they need his middle of the order power (I relaize he had a down year last year offensively). This may change if we get Upton or if the Rangers are only an average team at the All Star break.

I guess Cruz is the new whipping boy now that MY is gone.

Cruz should have been traded after October, 2011. Now? Too late and not really worth it.

@PT - why would we trade Cruz? If we're so desperate for OFers that we're contemplating giving up big time prospects in a trade for Upton, or ponying up big bucks for Bourne, why would we trade Cruz?
If we had a surplus of OFers, then I would agree...but we don't... and therefore we shouldn't even entertain the idea.
If in June/July it's abundantly clear that Martin is the real deal, then I would be ok trading Cruz.

I wonder who would fetch a greater bounty; Cruz or Murphy. Look at the stats. Apart from the pure power numbers, Murphy's younger and has been way more consistent than Cruz... and you could make the case he's a better fielder too. The only noticeable difference are the HR totals but it's not as big a divide as you might think. I would be willing to bet that if you dangled both of them as trade bait, teams would rather have Murphy than Cruz... but again, trading either of them right now would be a mistake.

BTW - anyone know what Julio Borbon is up to these days? Cruz will pull a hammy this year, or Martin will break an arm or legs, Gentry will get a comcussion, etc... and I would think Borbon would be the 1st one to call up, right? Who else do we have on the farm that could capably fill that role? Is Engel Beltre an option?
See what I mean about the lack of depth...I think trading Cruz (or any other OFer) would be a mistake... at least right now it would be. Maybe everything goes according to plan and Cruz is dispensable at the trade deadline... but I sort of doubt it.

Borbon cannot be called up if he isnt on the 25 man after spring training, because he will be gone. He is out of options. Hoiwever, if Cruz is gone, Borbon might make the 25 man roster.

Beltre is not out of options and is a better fielder than Borbon (and Cruz of course) and has a penchant to hit triples. If Cruz is traded or if Borbon is gone, Beltre might make the team, but may otherwise benefit from spending a year in AAA.

Murphy and Cruz are opposites but are worth about the same, except Murphy is paid less and has better speed and defense and walks. Murphy is worth more to the Rangers to keep (for this, his last year).

Bourn adds little unless his presence is what makes Cruz be traded.

I favor the following:

outfield of Martin in LF, Gentry full time in CF and Murphy/Butler in RF; trading Cruz (salary relief plus one prospect)

signing Napoli since he is still unsigned by the Red Sox (this could add 3 WAR net and be salary neutral, while providing more flexibility for injuries and much better batting vs LHP) and since Napoli would be signed, i would trade Moreland (adds one prospect) or stash him in AAA to make him improve his hitting vs LHP before making a final judgment on him..

trading for Oliver and thereafter making Ross a starter (to add a good lefty in the pen and this could add 2 WAR over other choices).

These moves also have the side effects of saving Borbon and Butler, who are out of options but are useful cheap bench players with some speed, defense and power who are entering their primes, and avoiding free agents such as Lohse and Bourn, both of whom cost high dollars and a draft pick.

@ goodasgoldyesmaam Who is the Butler you are referring to? Or was that a typo and you meant Beltre?

I think we only see a Cruz trade in the event of an Upton or another COF replacement. Even in that case Cruz could make for a good 4th/5th OF and DH.

He's referring to Joey Butler who raked AAA in 2011 and had another pretty good season last year. He's a high K guy and was never viewed as a 'prospect' but I like the guy and wish he'd get a shot.

Concerning Napoli; I don't see a need for him after signing AJP and Berkman. And I certainly don't see how signing him and moving Cruz adds 3 WAR.

As the team sits right now, you either role with what you've got and hope a few guys play to their ability, or make a move for a real impact bat. Adding a marginal improvement for guys like Cruz or Gentry. All you're doing is hurting team chemistry.

If you want to add salary spend it on pitching.

Good grief.

Seattle would be willing to make a deal for Upton who is 25 years old and has several years of team control. The only similarity in value between Upton & Cruz is the corner outfield position. Cruz is 7 years older and has one year remaining.

We've lost Hamilton's 43 homers and Napoli's 24. Trade Cruz and Beltre might just set a Texas record for intentional walks. Nobody will pitch to him.

Just out of curiousity, what do we want to get back for Cruz? You'd be hard pressed to find a guy in their lineup who is any type of upgrade over our postion players. Yeah, I know, King Felix. Sure. Right.

Hey Cruz haters! The coaches position outfielders in the outfield. The only ball that could have hurt us was the one that went over an outfielders head. They had Cruz positioned too shallow. It was a tough but makeable catch but if the coaches had positioned him properly it would not have been an issue. Cruz was a good outfielder that has become an average outfielder with a GREAT arm.

You guys are STILL grousing about Nellie not getting to Friese's hit in the World Series?

1) The coaches are responsible for positioning the OFers (IFers, too, for that matter).
2) Wash had DISCUSSED with his coaches leaving Endy in and pulling Cruz after Endy pinch hit and didn't.
..... a) They KNEW Nellie had tweaked something the inning before...
..... b) They had the OPPORTUNITY to make a defensive change to improve our defense
..... c) The COACHES (specifically, the manager) left Nellie out there to take the fall.

Wash does not want to win the World Series. He's either scared to death of success or he's on someone else's (not the Rangers) payroll on the side. Or, maybe, he's just stupid.

@Rich P: We could always trade him for Justin Smoak! Seems we had a liking for that guy at one time or another... somewhere...

Have to keep Cruz. He is capable of hot streaks like we saw from josh early lsst year. Give him time with dave magadan and we could see a great season out of him.

Seattle is filling a power slot by (soon) signing Michael Morse/DC.

SEA is quietly building a sustainable offense. May have to view a Ranger game there,
on a west coast division swing.

David D,

I actually liked Smoak a lot at one time. He just hasn't developed out in Seattle, but what hitter has? Some guys are late bloomers, like Cruz and maybe Morse, some guys never develop at all. But I guess if Chris Davis can develop in year 5 there's still time for Smoak.

I'm still meh on Chris Davis. Dat BB-to-K rate is bad bad bad. Players of his ilk strike gold every so often, but their production is due to fall off a cliff at some point. Probably next season.

Hit Tool / Power Tool: Chris Davis = Mike Napoli = Joey Gallo (except Nap took more walks)

Hope Joey picks 52 for his Jersey ... B-52! The Bomber!

But, you guys are gonna rag on him, too.

Dangit... got to reading about Crush Davis and forgot to include Cruz...

Crush = NAP-o-LI = B-52 = BOOMstick

Nellie is more likely to get on a hot streak, though, and Nap is more likely to take a walk.

The first time I saw Cruz run to a ball 10-15+ yards away, with his glove hand held high already,
I remember kids I played with in Jr. High. Dude, pump the arms and get there, then raise the glove.
He STILL does that years later. Drives me nuts!