Oniel cruz

[Buccobill]

They need to get this guy off the field. Dh him only. Give him a couple weeks. If he don't hit send him down.

[Doc]

They need to get this guy off the field. Dh him only. Give him a couple weeks. If he don't hit send him down.

I'm with you, but I'd go a step further and get him off the team. He has immense talent, but he'll never reach his full potential. He's not worth the trouble.

[Wildwoodcoach]

Not to worry, when his contract is up, he will be gone

[Doc]

Not to worry, when his contract is up, he will be gone

That goes without saying. However, in the meantime, if we do trade him, we might be able to get someone who could actually help us over the next five years and, at the same time, we don’t have to be constantly frustrated by his choice to not play hard. The trouble is, there are no secrets in baseball. The other GMs know what he’s like and wouldn’t be willing to part with much. We’ll just have to put up with him for the foreseeable future.

[JollyRoger8]

Cruz responds to this topic with 2 hits including a grand slam.
Please consider that he hasn’t even played 2 full years

[Doc]

Cruz responds to this topic with 2 hits including a grand slam.
Please consider that he hasn’t even played 2 full years

I do consider that. It’s the way he goes about playing. He’s lazy and aloof. He doesn’t play hard all the time, he just picks his spots. It’s his personality. I just don’t believe he’ll be the complete player he could be, and even if he still produced well in spite of that, he’s not getting everything he can out of his talent. He’s cheating himself, and that adversely affects his team. I don’t think he’s worth the frustration regardless of how good he could be.

I know I’m in the minority but I just can’t warm up to this guy because I think he’s wasting incredible ability. He could be so much more than what he’ll end up being, and that’s a real shame.

[Possum]

I don't think Cruz is lazy at all. He is so emotionally involved in trying to be the star player the team expect him to be. He has his warts, such as his defense in CF but he has improved his bat so that he is able to hit a HR or 4 as well as hitting the ball that is an RBI single.

[German Township]

Personally, Cruz doesn't have a normal baseball "IQ" to ever succeed in the game. The constant mistakes that he makes on offense, defense, and when on the bases is hard to comprehend. He plays like a small child just learning the game of baseball. I'm sure the coaches have talked to him constantly. He is just very non-coachable. And, in all probability, never will be. I can just imagine his teammates voicing their displeasure behind closed doors in the clubhouse.

[Doc]

I don't think Cruz is lazy at all. He is so emotionally involved in trying to be the star player the team expect him to be. He has his warts, such as his defense in CF but he has improved his bat so that he is able to hit a HR or 4 as well as hitting the ball that is an RBI single.

I mentioned this last year. I went to a game and intentionally focused nearly the whole time on Cruz. When an inning ended, he walked so casually off the field (he never once jogged) that all the outfielders arrived in the dugout before him. Every single inning. At the start of each inning, he again walked so slowly to shortstop (where he was still playing at the time) that he caught just one or two groundballs thrown by the first baseman.

In between pitches and plays, he looked entirely disinterested, looking off at the crowd most of the time. On balls hit into the outfield, he mostly just turned and watched, hardly moving off the infield dirt until it became necessary, and he was never in a hurry to receive a throw for a relay.

Sorry, Possum, but I think he's worse than lazy.

[JollyRoger8]

Cruz responds to this topic with 2 hits including a grand slam.
Please consider that he hasn’t even played 2 full years

I do consider that. It’s the way he goes about playing. He’s lazy and aloof. He doesn’t play hard all the time, he just picks his spots. It’s his personality. I just don’t believe he’ll be the complete player he could be, and even if he still produced well in spite of that, he’s not getting everything he can out of his talent. He’s cheating himself, and that adversely affects his team. I don’t think he’s worth the frustration regardless of how good he could be.

I know I’m in the minority but I just can’t warm up to this guy because I think he’s wasting incredible ability. He could be so much more than what he’ll end up being, and that’s a real shame.

Doc
I also share some of your frustration with Cruz. It angers me to see him jogging down the first base line and not running every ball out.
I think he signed when he was only 16, so he has had 9 years to learn the game. He has been labeled a budding superstar and a unicorn which obviously adds more pressure to a young player.
It’s too bad that we don’t have a Roberto Clemente type that could take Cruz under his wings and mentor him. I liked what McCutchen did the other night when he turned to Cruz and pointed at his (McCutchen’s) gold glove. Unfortunately Cutch in his own words is not the vocal leader type and it is also a disadvantage that he does not speak Spanish. I just think Cruz is immature. He is all smiles when things are going his way; but he gets too low on himself when he struggles. I think he is way too talented to give up on.
BTW he is on pace for a 32 HR and 72 SB season