Nationals pull plug on Guzman, acquire Cruz

By Jim Callis
August 30, 2005

The Nationals remain in the National League wild-card race despite the lowest-scoring offense in the majors, and they're desperate for runs. So desperate in fact, that they attempted to bolster their lineup Tuesday by picking up Deivi Cruz from the Giants in a deal for minor league righthander Ben Cox.

The 32-year-old Cruz is no huge threat at the plate, but he'll be an upgrade over shortstop Cristian Guzman, who will take a .196 average and a .514 OPS to the bench. Cruz is a contact hitter with decent pop for a middle infielder, but his impatience can be exploited easily and he rarely draws walks. He's stocky and doesn't run as well or cover as much defensive ground as most middle infielders. Playing in a reserve role for San Francisco, he hit .268/.301/.397 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 81 games this year. He's making $800,000 and will become a free agent at season's end. Cruz is a lifetime .269/.293/.390 hitter with 70 homers and 463 RBIs in 1,214 games.

Cox, 23, signed as a 19th-round pick out of Lamar in 2004. He's a power pitcher who can hit the mid-90s with his fastball and backs it up with a low-80s slider, though his command tends to waver. In 42 games at low Class A Savannah this year, he went 4-4, 3.00 with six saves. He had a 51-33 strikeout-walk ratio in 63 innings, with opponents batting .234 with six homers against him.

In a second trade Tuesday, the Giants sent Jason Christiansen (who they designated for assignment Friday) to the Angels for journeyman lefthander Dusty Bergman and righthander Ronnie Ray, who's in low Class A for the third straight season.