Mariners embarking on a very expensive Cruz

Had things come together last season, Nelson Cruz's introduction with the Seattle Mariners would have taken place a year ago.

Seattle pursued Cruz last year but when it didn't work out, he went on to lead the majors in home runs playing on a one-year deal in Baltimore.

The Mariners were quick to try to find a deal that would work for both sides as soon as this offseason arrived.

"We were open and honest as we could possibly be and say, 'This is the guy that we want,'" Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik said on Thursday.

"He was the guy we wanted to bring into this organization and it just came together."

Seattle landed the right-handed power bat that was a priority this offseason with a four-year deal worth $57 million that was finalized on Thursday.

He will receive a $1 million signing bonus payable by Dec 31 and yearly salaries of $14 million.

Cruz parlayed an $8 million, one-year contract with Baltimore into the long deal with the Mariners after hitting 40 homers and driving in 108 runs for the Orioles.

Zduriencik said adding a fourth year to the contract - which will take Cruz to age 38 - was critical to getting the deal done.

"With Nelson, the fact that because he's such a power guy made him a priority. In our game today, that's so difficult to find," Zduriencik said.

"In our league he can be a DH, which will preserve him somewhat. He's in great shape, he's a really good worker. We had to do that to get him here and we did it."

Cruz served a 50-game suspension in 2013 for violations of the drug agreement in relation to the sport's investigation of the Biogenesis of America clinic..

He will likely hit behind fellow Dominican star Robinson Cano, who will be starting the second season of his 10-year, $240 million contract, and will also reunite with Dominican teammate Fernando Rodney, the Mariners' closer.

"We've been pretty close," Cruz said of Cano.

"He's also one of the reasons why I'm here. I think he was pulling for me the whole time. I was pulling for this right here, to be part of this."

(China Daily 12/06/2014 page8)