On the surface, that should be enough to rule him out as a player of interest for the Tampa Bay Rays. But this is not an ordinary 38-year-old DH. This is Nelson Cruz. Cruz has played major league ball for 14 seasons, most of it with the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners. In that time he has been a six-time All-Star, the MVP of the 2012 ALCS, and a two-time Silver Slugger winner.
And his age hasn’t slowed him considerably. Though his 2018 campaign can’t be called impressive, hitting .