It's Nellie Time

It's time for the Rangers to find out whether they came out of the Francisco Cordero trade to Milwaukee two years ago with anything or not.

Despite how much Milton Bradley contributed to this team both on the field (when he was there) and in the clubhouse, the Rangers could simply not risk a long-term contract on him with his history of injuries and missing games.

That's too bad, because the switch-hitting Bradley was the perfect cleanup hitter behind Josh Hamilton. He could hit good pitching, could hit for power and could draw a walk. He just wasn't there as much as the Rangers needed him.

But in an ironic confluence of events, Bradley's departure comes when Nelson Cruz has clearly earned another -- and final -- chance to claim a spot in the middle of the Rangers' batting order. That he is a clear upgrade in the outfield is a bonus.

Am I leery of the Rangers having to depend on a still-unproven Cruz as their fourth and fifth-place hitter? Absolutely. But with Bradley gone and Tom Hicks squeezing his checkbook tighter than Tony Romo's grip on Jessica Simpson, the Rangers have little choice but to hope that the 28-year-old Cruz is finally ready.

Every indication is that he's turned the corner at last: a .342-37-99 line in 103 games at OKC; .330-7-26 in 31 late-season games with the Rangers; .362-8-30 with a .415 OBP in 105 ABs in Dominican winter ball.

Yes, Cruz has posted big minor league and winter league numbers before and yes, it's still possible that he's just a tremendous Triple A-and-a-Half player, but it's time the Rangers found out for sure.

It's risky going into the season counting on Cruz, but no one can argue that it's not time.

--JIM REEVES

Comments

[Jpaul]

Righto, give Cruz a chance. Patience may pay off. In the past, Rangers have been inpatient (see John Danks, Carlos Pena, Dave Stewart, & many others) and given up on guys too quick. They may make up some for past mistakes here.

[Justin M.]

I really hope that Nellie Cruz will pick up where he left off he was even being productive when the Rangers brought him up in September to play almost everyday. He has talent you can see when he plays he has a lot of power and has a great arm in right filed too. So I guess he might be a Juando starter kit. Although by this point in Juando's career he was already an all-star caliber player smahsing homeruns all of the place. But his ability is there and if he does play the way he did towards the end of the season he will have finally arrived as a player in the major leagues. But your right Reevo this is his chance to prove he is a Major league player instead of Triple AAA all-star. I can't wait to see if he will succeed and be the player the Rangers fans hope he will be this season.

[Craig]

Go to yahoo sports and reed my comments on the Rangers team page messadge board,and enter our discusion on Blalock-vs-Cruz at the #4 spot

[Art]

I think the difference in Cruz this time was his performance with the big league club in September. He's never had a stretch like that in the big leagues in his life, and the fact it followed a great Triple-A season and preceded a great winter league season leaves me very optimistic that the light has finally gone on in Nellie's head. I sure hope so.

[Wade Hawkins]

Remember that Texas placed Cruz on waivers last year and fortunately he wasn't taken by another club. Texas got lucky; should have lost him. However, they didn't lose-out, so perhaps Texas should breath a sigh of relief as they reap the rewards of having traded for this guy. Coco was a spare (blew a lot of saves) and getting Cruz was good value in my opinion. He'll be fine out there; JD is doing a good job as well.