I got this player out of Free Agency, he was an international free agent. Jose "Bomber" Cruz, 2B, out of Cuba. On the 20-80 scale he had 65 contact 70 power 65 eye and 55 defense. He pretty much could hit all day, but was slow and couldnt field. I wasnt going to get him because he was asking 20 mill per season, he was already 29, and I was already paying 28 to Verlander
and 30+ to Miggy. But nobody signed him and when the preseason began his asking price was 12. So i signed him to a 4 yr deal.
His rookie season at age 29 he hit .315 with 30 HR and 120 RBI. After that year Illitch told me to get rid of Cruz because he is a bad apple. Initially i said hell no, but I listened because its fun sometimes to listen and do what the Owner wants. I ended up getting Zack Grienke for him, who at the time was 10-1 with a 2.50 ERA. Not bad because we needed another great starter. Well, we took a nosedive and fell out of the playoffs, the Dodgers won it all with Jose Cruz at 2B and he finished with another .300/28 HR/100 RBIs....meanwhile Grienke went fdown from 5 stars to 3 and started pitching like Verlander...
1. Dont listen to the owner, pull a Dave Dombrowski...
2. If you are losing because of him of course pull the trigger, but if not.. youll feel as dumb as me...I miss Cruz