Nelson Cruz

There are extremely different views as to the value of Nelson Cruz.  Prior to 2009 he was considered a Quadruple-A player, so there are those who believe that last season was simply an aberration. 

Then, there are those who fully believe in his breakout campaign, thinking that the sky is the limit for him in 2010.

Which is the right way to be leaning?  It’s a tough call, to say the least, so let’s take a look and come to a conclusion.

First, his 2009 statistics:

As baseball fans and sabermetric gurus, we all believe that we can predict how a player will perform year in and year out. We spend hours of our precious time watching video and looking up stats. We know who is real and who isn't.

Lock this guy up. Just do it. He's on the brink of "Pierredom." Make that "Crawfordom." And you can get him cheap! Julio Borbon  is set to bat leadoff for the Texas Rangers, and he will be a big reason why the Rangers will take the AL West in 2010.

Today is Nelson Cruz‘s 37th birthday.  I’m not talking about the slugging outfielder for the Texas Rangers, rather I’m writing about the former Tigers pitcher.

Nelson Cruz burst into the mainstream last night with his performance in the Home Run Derby. After a great first round that saw him belt 11 home runs, Cruz muscled his way into the finals against Prince Fielder before falling short.

In all, Cruz finished with 22 home runs, most of which went deep into the St. Louis night. He's known to have "light tower power," and he certainly lived up to that scouting report last night.

Yesterday, news broke that Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett would be fined and suspended for six games for throwing high and inside to Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz on Tuesday.

Riots instantly broke out within the Bronx. Upset fans overturned vehicles and set fire to local buildings, police were called in to keep the angry mobs of flaming bat-wielding people at bay, and general chaos ruled the streets.

Okay, so that didn't really happen.

Ranger fans like no other fans know what roller coaster type seasons are like, the Texas Rangers have been having that share over the past ten seasons.

Last year the entire season almost went by before the Rangers swept a series and were swept in a series, it took the first week of the season to accomplish both this year.

The Rangers opened the season at home with a three game series against the Cleveland Indians. The Rangers went on to sweep the Tribe 9-1, 8-5, 12-8 and comply 29 runs, 37 hits, and 18 extra-base hits to start the season.

The first two times that I wrote this piece it was predicting what the Texas Rangers organization was going to do in regards to the 25-man roster.

Well now with the season only a couple days away, the roster has been set, and the team is ready for the 2009 season.

Along with the players are the positions that they will be fulfilling and their projected stats (according to CBS Sports Fantasy Baseball).

STARTING ROTATION

Kevin Millwood - 12-11, 4.50 ERA, 129 K, 49 BB

Vicente Padilla -12-10, 4.32 ERA, 134 K, 60 BB

Those looking for this year's Josh Hamilton—a breakout slugger—look no further than teammate Nelson Cruz. Nelson, who will turn 29 this season, has made a career in the minor leagues.

He capped off his minor career last season with a bang; a bang which included blasting 37 home runs and batting in 99 runs, not to mention a .342 batting average. Last year's spectacular performance in triple-A earned him the Pacific Coast League MVP award.

Nelson's triple-A contract with Oklahoma was bought out on Aug. 25, 2008.