Mariners say Cruz will be game-changer for offense

SEATTLE – Spring training, for veteran players, generally unfolds in the sort of comfortable monotony that comes from slipping into an old pair of jeans. Accomplishments (and failures) are graded to scale.

Every so often, though, an exception demands attention.

Cue up the third inning on March 22 at Peoria Stadium when Nelson Cruz crushed a fastball from Texas right-hander Yovani Gallardo with two runners on base.

The ball took off like a laser toward center field and struck high against the 40-foot batters’ eye beyond the 410-foot wall for a three-run homer before ricocheting back onto the field.

It was, at least to some, even more impressive than Rickie Weeks’ monstrous drive on March 7 against Arizona. That’s saying something because Weeks’ bash cleared the batters’ eye.

“That ball Cruz hit didn’t go over the wall,” third baseman Kyle Seager marveled. “It looked like it was going to go through the wall.”

That’s how @NCBoomstick23 sends out tweets in the real world.

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The Mariners reset their franchise roughly 16 months ago by luring All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano to the Northwest by shelling out $240 million over the length of a 10-year contract.

Among Cano’s first words were a warning that he couldn’t do it alone – although he fueled a turnaround, in tandem with the league’s best pitching staff, that kept the Mariners in contention for postseason until the final day.

The organization’s in-house postmortem then reached the obvious conclusion; the Mariners needed more muscle in the middle of their lineup. Only three American League clubs scored fewer runs.

“Certainly, the No. 1 priority,” general manager Jack Zduriencik said, “was to try to find a middle-of-the-lineup hitter. Someone who would bat behind Cano, and someone who would be a force.”

In short, the Mariners needed a Boomstick.

They pursued and signed Cruz, the guy who led the majors last season with 40 homers, on Dec. 4 for $57 million over the next four seasons.

“I don’t know how many times I said (last season) in press conferences,” manager Lloyd McClendon noted, “that we were challenged from an offensive standpoint. We were challenged with balance in the lineup.

“This guy addresses that.”

There’s irony here.

The Mariners took a hard look a year ago at Cruz, when he was a free agent coming off a 50-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis drug scandal.

Cruz drew scant interest on the market because of concerns generated from the taint of that scandal. Specifically, would he display the same power potential?

For his part, Cano pushed the Mariners to sign his teammate from the Dominican Republic’s title-winning club in the World Baseball Classic. And even then, the Mariners knew they needed more pop in their lineup.

The two sides talked and reached the framework for a one-year deal for $7.5 million that included a $9 million club option for 2015. The deal fell apart when ownership backed away in the late stages.

“It was pretty close,” Cruz recalled. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make it happen.”

In stepped the Baltimore Orioles who snagged Cruz with a one-year offer for $8 million. He then silenced all doubters by putting together the best season of his career.

“He didn’t have a chip on his shoulder,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the Baltimore Sun. “He just came in with something to prove about questions people had about him.”

Cruz hit those 40 homers and drove in 108 runs. Both were career highs. He was picked as an All-Star for the third time in his career and drew significant support in the MVP balloting.

“He had an amazing season,’’ Baltimore first baseman Steve Pearce said.

‘‘Great teammate. Great guy. It’s an honor to be on the same team as him.’’

Then Cruz went back on the market.

The Orioles offered a three-year deal, but the Mariners offered four. Bidding might have intensified had Cruz let the market develop into December.

But he saw no reason to do so.

“I want to be part of a winning team,” Cruz said, “and this is the best choice I could make.”

By signing Cruz, the Mariners simultaneously addressed their biggest need and positioned themselves as a trendy pick to reach postseason for the first time since 2001.

“Jack said, ‘We are going to build a championship team around you over the next three years,’ ” Cano said. “And that’s what he’s done. They’ve signed the pieces for the puzzle that we needed.”

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There are doubters still.

It’s a legitimate question to ask how Cruz’s power will translate to Safeco Field which, even as it enters a third season of slightly cozier dimensions, is still regarded as a tough hitters’ park.

“I try to hit line drives,” he said. “If it goes out, it goes out. That’s my approach. I’ve played here all of my life. So I know what Seattle is all about. I know Safeco Field. It’s nothing new for me.”

Felix Hernandez points to a homer he surrendered last year to Cruz at Safeco as proof the park won’t easily contain his new teammate.

“The line drive to left?” Hernandez recalled. “Geezus … Does he have enough power to play at Safeco Field? Easy. I think he’s got three against me at Safeco. One to center field.”

The general view, though, is Cruz’s power will suffer by no longer playing his home games in cozy Camden Yards, although 25 of his 40 homers last year came on the road. Further, ESPN plotted each of 15 of his Baltimore homers and determined all of them would have cleared the walls at Safeco.

But let’s concede the point, for argument’s sake, that Cruz benefited the last six seasons – the span that covers his time as a regular in the lineup – by playing in two hitter-friendly home parks: Texas and Baltimore.

Consider then only his road numbers over those last six years: a .256/.312/.478 slash (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage).

The Mariners will take that. They got .190/.266/.301 last year from their DHs.

Project Cruz’s road power numbers from that same span over a full season, and the result is 26 homers and 80 RBIs. The Mariners will take that, too, after getting a combined 15 and 50 from last year’s DHs.

“This guy’s track record,” McClendon said, “addresses what we needed most: Having a true cleanup hitter. I can tell you what it means to our club. It adds validity. It extends our lineup, and it protects Robby.

“And it gives Seager more opportunities. A true No. 4 makes your lineup better all around.”

Some scouts believe Cruz will reap the biggest benefit as a right-handed batter positioned between two potent lefty bats in Cano and Seager.

“There might not be a better spot for a right-handed hitter in any lineup anywhere,” said a scout from an opposing team. “Remember Minnesota a couple of years ago when Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau were really good?

“They put Michael Cuddyer between them, and he became a star. Nelson Cruz is already a star. I think all three of those guys (Cano, Cruz and Seager) are going to have big years.”

Ask Cruz about his spot in the lineup, and he shrugs.

“In the end it’s going to be you,” he said. “You have to make the adjustments. You have to make the pitcher throw the right pitches.”

Even so, he looks at the Mariners’ new-look attack, which also now includes veterans Seth Smith and Justin Ruggiano, and sees reason for optimism.

“I think what we have should be enough to complete the goal,” Cruz said. “I’m excited about our pitching. We have great pitching. The offense that we have should be enough.”