As the first half of the season winds down, the Padres made the decision to designate veteran slugger Nelson Cruz for assignment, the team announced Tuesday. San Diego will have seven days to trade Cruz, who will then be put on waivers if a deal isn’t agreed to.
The move comes in the midst of a tough stretch for San Diego in which its lost seven of its past nine games, entering play on Tuesday 11 games out of first place in the National League West and seven games out of the NL’s third wild-card spot.
Cruz, who turned 43 Saturday, joined the Padres as a free agent this winter on a one-year, $1 million contract and is in his 19th big-league season. Through 49 games, he’s posted a .245/.283/.399 slash line, with five home runs and 23 RBIs.
Cruz had long been able to fend off Father Time, making the All-Star team in 2021 during his age-40 season when he hit 32 homers and had a 129 OPS+ in 140 games with the Rays and Twins.
But he did manage just 10 home runs in 124 games with the Nationals last season, posting a below-average OPS+ (90) for the first time since 2007. An identical 90 OPS+ this year spells the end of his time in San Diego, and perhaps in the majors.
