There were no grand expectations when it was announced, last offseason, that the Orioles had signed Deivi Cruz to man shortstop in 2003 and, true to form, Cruz lived up (or down) to those expectations when the season played out.  Cruz was a dreadful offensive player for the Orioles, but really no more dreadful than they had any right to anticipate when he inked his contract.  Cruz has a career .330 Offensive Winning Percentage; in 2003, his OWP was .322.  

Cruz teamed with third baseman Tony Batista to form what had to be the worst left side of the infield in the big leagues last year.  The two were peas in a pod.  Both are summa cum laude graduates of the Mariano Duncan School of Plate Discipline.  If Batista was in the top 5% of his graduating class MDSPD, Cruz was the valedictorian.  He drew a total of 11 unintentional walks in 572 plate appearances in 2003 and has drawn only 99 UBBs in 2746 career PAs.  Like Batista, Cruz is a walking out machine the vast majority of the time.

Among players with at least 502 plate appearances, Cruz and Batista ranked seventh and eighth worst among big leaguers in OWP.

In the field, Cruz is generally dependable on those balls he reaches, but has less than stellar range.  If this sounds like Batista, well...it should.  Cruz isn't particularly quick, nor does he have an especially good first step.

Absolutely none of this should have come as any surprise to the Orioles; I'd like to think that, in fact, none of it did.

I think we can begin to take seriously the Orioles' claim that they're putting a competitive team together when they stop signing veteran, bottom of the barrel journeymen to fill holes at starting positions.  As long as the club inks the Deivi Cruzes of this world, we can continue to "wait 'til next year."

1. Find an employer.
2. Somehow learn, after all these years, that he doesn't have to swing at everything thrown to him; sometimes I think that Cruz would take a rip if the opposing pitcher tossed his gum towards home plate.
3. Take on a role (utility infielder comes to mind; so does AAA roster spot) commensurate with his true ability; seven full seasons and more than 1000 games don't lie--Cruz is no more than a replacement level ballplayer.

NOTES: Slugging percentages by month:  April (.278), May (.415), June (.553), July (.472), August (.278), September (.277)...in a true mockery of the term, somehow accumulated 16 plate appearances as the "designated hitter"...in 287 plate appearances after running an 0-1 count, was .219/.228/.283...struck out only 49 times in 548 official at bats, but still was responsible for 435 outs...was one for three stealing bases in 2003, and is now 15 of 39 for his career...in his seven years, all as a starting shortstop, Cruz has never played for a winning team and his clubs have compiled a 495-638 record (.437 winning percentage); the 2003 Orioles had a winning percentage of .438.

BACK TO THE INDEX