Nelson Cruz almost earned half his paycheck in the first game.

[OFFNY]

.

We're almost 1/4 of the way into the season ....... and NOW, the notion of Cruz at least being in the neighborhood of having earned half of his annual 2014 paycheck is not necessarily so crazy, as it (obviously) was when this thread was started.

In addition to the fact that he has been monstrous offensively so far, Cruz has also had to carry the team on quite a few occasions, due to many of the other starters having had prolonged cold streaks at the plate.

[OFFNY]

.

We're almost 1/4 of the way into the season ....... and NOW, the notion of Cruz at least being in the neighborhood of having earned half of his annual 2014 paycheck is not necessarily so crazy, as it (obviously) was when this thread was started.

In addition to the fact that he has been monstrous offensively so far, Cruz has also had to carry the team on quite a few occasions, due to many of the other starters having had prolonged cold streaks at the plate.

I don't know how you would calculate this guy's value, and I don't really care.

We're just past the 1/3 point in the season, and this guy has easily been the M.V.O. (Most Valuable Oriole) for the 2014 season to date.

$8 Million ??? I really hope that Cruz likes being an Orioles, hope that he likes the manager and his teammates, and that we at least make a concerted effort at keeping him in 2015 and beyond.

[Frobby]

Per fangraphs, Cruz had been worth $11 mm going into today's game. Best $8 mm we ever spent.

[OFFNY]

o

(vs. WHITE SOX, 6/25)

Half his paycheck ???

That would be $4 Million.

I'd say that he has definitely earned it by now.

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

[Can_of_corn]

He's been going backward since June.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Nelson Cruz has been worth -0.5 WAR since the start of June</p>— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) <a href="

">August 5, 2014</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[OFFNY]

o

(vs. D-RAYS, 9/07)

o

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

[Barnaby Graves]

This guy can't make the beer much colder today.

[OFFNY]

o

(vs. D-RAYS, 9/07)

o

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

NELSON RAMON CRUZ

He wasn't done, Patrick.

A 2-run home run in the top of the 10th inning gave the Orioles the lead again.

The Orioles have 7 runs today, and Cruz has 7 R.B.I.'s today.

[El Gordo]

Nelson Cruz pulled a Michael Jordon and decided he just wasn't letting this team be swept again. :clap3::smile11::boogie::2yay-thumb:

[atomic]

The guy deserves serious consideration for MVP, but he probably won't get many votes. I don't care. He is the Orioles MVP and its not close.

He isn't even the Orioles MVP that would be Adam Jones. But he has helped the team a lot those year. Hopefully we can get him back for next season.

[El Gordo]

To bad it's Derek Jeter holy day, otherwise Nelson might even have made it to an ESPN headline.

[weams]

He sure earned it today.

[Loophole]

He actually gained 0.5 WAR today. So he earned at least $2.5 million.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Cruz was worth 1.227 WPA today with his 7 RBI performance. So if you want to substitute WPA for WAR, Cruz quite literally was worth his $8 million paycheck from one game.

[waroriole]

There might be Orioles with more WAR but no one has been responsible for more wins this year.

Probably true. Incredible season. Not sure where we'd be without him.