My Thoughts on the Nelson Cruz Signing

As a Christian man, I want everyone to move on from their mistakes and do the best they can with their current situations. As a Baltimore Oriole fan, I want what is best for the baseball team. As a father and a coach, I want those that cheat to be treated as such to set an example for the youth. As an American, I want anyone who cheats to be dealt with appropriately, but I also think people should get a new chance. So how do I possibly treat the signing of a drug user by one of my favorite teams?

There is no simple answer because it is not a simple question. I am not happy with the signing of Nelson Cruz by the Baltimore Orioles. The way I see it, Cruz is a known cheater and there is no way to verify when and for how long he cheated. My hope is that it was a one-time deal and he regrets his mistakes. My fear is that he reached that level of performance solely by performance enhancing drugs and he just robbed my favorite professional sports team. My belief is that the Nelson Cruz lies somewhere in between those two levels and that can be ok.

Cruz has been a really good baseball player for his career. Every year he puts up all-star type numbers at the plate. However, he took steroids and nobody really knows for how long and what affect they had. In my opinion, you don't give that kind of money to a 30+ yr old former drug user, who doesn't field well. Unfortunately though I do not run the Orioles. Good thing for me is that they are in capable hands. Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter are great baseball minds. While I personally disagree with this use of funds, it likely will end well because of the track record recently. These guys have brought in quality players and changed the outlook for this organization.

The Cruz signing is not something I am happy with. However, it was 8 million and is a bargain if he can keep his production. While I do not have to agree with everything they do (and don't in this circumstance) I do believe in the Orioles brain trust. Things are looking promising in 2014 in birdland. Even if this goes south with Cruz though, we got Ubaldo! Go O's!

-Noland