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The Ugly

wil*ly nil*ly adv or adj:  1.  In a careless and unplanned way.  2.  In a haphazard or spontaneous manner.   First known use A.D. 1608, will I nil I, or will ye nil ye, or will he nil he

We were all taken aback to find that the 2013 Mariners passed on Nelson Cruz for 1 year, $8M.  By "we" I mean "you," of course.  I had grokked the truth from the start.  I mean it in the humblest possible way.

We knew all the way along that [MONTHS OF MAN-HOURS PILING SPREADSHEETS TO THE SKY] can still equal [WILLY NILLY].  Why in the world do you negotiate with a player, reach an agreement, and then have some stockholder THEN decide that we should have never opened conversation.

And how many terms like that are there, really, that can be used as adverb or adjective, as you please.  "The Mariners' stockholders ran willy-nilly down the corridors arriving at their willy-nilly decision to chop-block Zduriencik's 108 RBI and shed the willy-nilly American League playoff tournament."  Try making that sentence work with "cattywampus," babe.  As you know, baseball blogging is more art than science.

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The Bad

1.  As Cool Papa points out, this time 'round we are coughing up a 1st-round comp pick on this dude.

2.  We are talking about 4 years, for a Richie Sexson-ish cartelua, who turns 35 during the first year of his contract.  Mo' offered this wisdom at no additional charge.

True:

• At $65M or so, you're really paying for 3 years and the 4th year is gravy
• Cruz' skill trendlines couldn't be more stable
• Very reasonable comps include Jayson Werth, Josh Hamilton, and Raul Ibanez (good players well past 30)

But yeah.  One year on, a Nelson Cruz contract no longer carries the dulcet melodic, zen-centered harmonics it promised in 2013.  The announcement in 2014, though we would READ it on paper, sorry, on our smartphone LCD's, would tend more towards high-pitched, razored and eardrum-piercing.

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The Good

[Cruz and Taijuan and Taylor and the fillings out of our blinkin' teeth], vs [Justin Upton]?

As MLB Trade Rumors points out, right hand power is easy to come by neither (1) on smartphone LCD's nor (2) on the real American League grass.  If you want free agent RBI's, here was the list when we started the winter:

• Victor Martinez
• Hanley Ramirez
• Pablo Panda
• Russell Martin
• Nelson Cruz
• Yazmanyie Tomas (which of these things is not like the others)

And as we stand here today, the current list is:

• Nelson Cruz
• Yazmanyie Tomas (which of these things is not like the others)

As you know, we live to serve.  Here is the list of 50 best free agents.  Matt Kemp isn't on it.  Neither is any other offensive player you want, except Cruz and Tomas.  Like Yogi sez, it's getting late early.

.......

One good amigo objected, "Cruz has only hit 30 homers twice."  Which was the argument we had 12.00 months ago.  Cruz' per-162 numbers are like a .500 slugging average or something.  Really, click this link and skim down to the per-162 line.  

The chances of a "per 162" are enhanced by the fact that Cruz will now cheerfully bat as DH when his legs are actually, before his legs start aching, so that he doesn't pop a frazzled hammy trying to beat out a grounder.  Trust an old man about how this P.T. sequence works.

Another free light bulb, just rubbernecking it on the shoulder of the road driving by:  never, ever, ever take a player's career road numbers and assume that's the "real" Joe Shlabotnik.  The "why" of that is a separate billable article.  For now, look up Nelson Cruz, Ex Ranger's road slugging average last year (.576, was it?) and just stay focused on the next paragraph.

We don't say that Nelson Cruz is an SSI Best Bet.  But as fans, if the M's went with the Better Late Than Never option ..... we could (1) ignore the cash considerations, (2) rejoice in the 100'ish RBI, (2a) remember just how close the M's were in 2014, and (3) rejoice in Taijuan Walker's emergence as a young TOR starter.  

Hey, it says here that Taijuan is a half-pitch away from a 2+ ERA and if so, he'll be a mortal lock to beat out Felix for the Cy Young.

.........

Assuming you don't buy any of that, which Dr. D certainly doesn't, just bask with him in a +100 runs* team that is Terminator-focused on getting a middle of the order.

BABVA,

Dr D