Aug. 15—Nelson Cruz was traded to Tampa Bay on July 22. Brent Rooker was called up from Triple A to fill his roster spot.
Since then, Cruz has hit five homers. So has Rooker.
One should not make too much of that. Cruz missed some time with aches and pains during that span, so Rooker has had more than 20 additional plate appearances. It’s too few at-bats to be definitive. And there should be no doubt that Rooker can’t match Cruz for batting average.
But this is also true: There is production to be had at designated hitter without Cruz.
Cruz’s return to Target Field this past weekend prompts the question: Should the Twins seek to bring the veteran slugger, who turned 41 on July 1, back for 2022? Or should the Twins deploy resources in other areas?
I see three main routes for the Twins to take here:
—Bring Cruz back;
—Make Rooker a full-time DH;
—Set up a rotation system that would include Rooker but also Miguel Sano, Josh Donaldson, Luis Arraez and others.
The first is the one that the Twins have the least control over. There is a general expectation that the next collective bargaining agreement (and let us pray there is one) will include the DH for the NL, and that would elevate the market for Cruz. His 2021 salary ($13 million) is depressed by the limited market for bat-only players.
Cruz is almost certainly focused on playing for a contender. The 2021 Twins are not a contender; Cruz may be skeptical of their chances for 2022.
Reading between the lines, I think the Twins would prefer to bring Cruz back. But it is not solely their choice.
Rooker as a full-time DH is an intriguing notion. He’s already 26, which is rather old for a rookie; star players are generally already established at his age.
But Cruz himself didn’t get a 500-plate appearances season until he was 28. Right-handed sluggers with little defensive value get limited opportunities, and they need to take full advantage when they get one. Rooker is getting one now.
His power is genuine, but so are his flaws in the field and at the plate. His defensive value (despite his impressive diving catch in left field Saturday) is minimal, and he has no real track record of hitting for average.
The third route — shuffling players through the role without committing to one as the regular DH — seems the most likely.
In my view, teams are generally better off without a regular DH, but that’s hardly a one-size-fits-all proposition. A superstar DH — and Cruz, like prime David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas, fits that definition — changes the equation.
But in the Twins case, they have a collection of talented hitters who all could benefit from spending some time as the designated hitter. Josh Donaldson has chronic leg issues. Miguel Sano isn’t the best first baseman on this roster. Luis Arraez isn’t a particularly good defender at any of his four positions. And there’s Rooker.
It’s pretty clear that, barring injury, Rooker is going to get the rest of 2021 to convince the Twins that they need to keep him in the lineup in 2022. I don’t think there’s room for both him and Nelson Cruz.
Edward Thoma is at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com. Twitter: @bboutsider.