Counting the ways that the Padres' signing of aging slugger Nelson Cruz makes sense is easy. Until a season ago, he was one of the most dependable sluggers in baseball. He curb-stomps left-handers, hitting .295 with a gaudy .939 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
For a team hunting DH and bench pop in today's mega-monied game, the reported $1 million deal is the equivalent of principal owner Peter Seidler rummaging for loose change under the couch cushions.
No payoff, however, could prove more massive and meaningful than this: Cruz, at 42, is an 18-season veteran who scripted a comeback from his own PED purgatory. He instantly becomes a powerful check-and-balance presence for Fernando Tatis Jr.
