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The Los Angeles Dodgers shouldn’t count on infielder Luis Cruz’s 2012 production to continue, but they also need to be wary of acquiring New York Yankees veteran Alex Rodriguez to cover third base, says Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti told reporters earlier this month that he’s leaning toward having Hanley Ramirez be the team’s regular shortstop in 2013. He also said that he’s heading into the offseason thinking Cruz can be the club’s everyday third baseman.
Cruz earned this consideration in 2012, hitting .297/.322/.431 with 20 doubles and six home runs over 283 at-bats for the Dodgers.
Still, Shaikin isn’t convinced Cruz’s production will continue, citing the 28-year-old’s career statistics. Before this season Cruz hit .221/.275/.260 over 154 major league at-bats. While he’s put together consecutive productive campaigns in the minors, he still owns a career line of only .261/.296/.394 over 12 years.
While Shaikin isn’t necessarily a believer in Cruz, he also isn’t pushing for a trade that would bring Rodriguez to Los Angeles. He notes that A-Rod’s slugging percentage has gone down every year since 2007. The veteran is also owed a whopping $114 million over the next five years.