Boston Red Sox Rumors: David Ortiz Wanted Nelson Cruz, Red Sox Front Office Said ‘No’
Boston Red Sox rumors have David Ortiz talking about the front office passing on Nelson Cruz. These Red Sox rumors indicate that Ortiz lobbied hard for the team to sign Cruz during the past MLB offseason, but Cruz ended up signing with the Seattle Mariners for the next four years. A report from WEEI out of Boston underscored the missed opportunity to add a great hitter behind Ortiz in the batting order.
It was a slugfest between the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox this past weekend, with the teams regularly scoring in double-figures. It also gave Cruz the opportunity to answer questions about how Ortiz pursued him and tried to convince him that he should stay in the American League East.
“He was all in. Anytime we played, he reminded me that he wanted me here. It meant a lot. I’m a fan of him, and also a good friend. When a player like him, a future Hall of Famer, requests for you to play with him, it’s definitely something that grabs you.”
“You have to wait for them. But we didn’t hear anything.”
All Nelson Cruz has done for the Mariners is post a.324 batting average, 35 home runs, 65 runs scored, and 73 RBIs so far. His.612 slugging percentage, 1.004 OPS, 182 OPS+, and 268 total bases lead the American League so far. Amid all the Boston Red Sox rumors of the past few months, this has to be the one that hits fans the hardest. The team might be atop the AL East right now with Cruz in the middle of the order.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Red Sox opened up the checkbook to sign Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez during the past MLB offseason. The money didn’t go toward starting pitching like many fans had hoped and could have been better spent by simply going after Cruz. The signings didn’t get the Red Sox back to the postseason, despite the team scoring a lot of runs over the past week. Now, fans can only imagine how many runs could have been scored if the Boston front office signed Cruz instead of Sandoval.
After the loss on Sunday (August 16), the Red Sox have fallen to 52-65 and reside in last place once again. That’s the second-worst record in the American League and a sign that the team has a lot of work to do this winter. Plenty of new Boston Red Sox rumors are going to surface at that point, with an expectation that the team could try to sign David Price.
[Image Source: Jim Rogash/Getty Images]
