As expected, the Texas Rangers officially made a $14.1 million qualifying offer to outfielder Nelson Cruz on Monday. The club said last week that it planned on making the offer.
Cruz, 33, has until next Monday to decide whether to accept the offer. He's expected to decline it in favor of attempting to sign a longer-term deal -- whether that's with Texas or another team. If he declines the offer and ends up signing elsewhere, the Rangers would receive draft-pick compensation.
Cruz missed the final 50 games of the regular season after he was linked to the performance-enhancing drug investigation involving the Biogenesis Clinic in South Florida. Cruz returned for the American League wild-card tiebreaker and was 0-for-4 in the Rangers' loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rangers have two of the three outfield spots penciled in for 2014 with Leonys Martin and Alex Rios returning. But they could use another corner outfielder and some power. Cruz had 27 homers and 76 RBIs in 109 games in 2013 and was the club's leading home run hitter and run producer at the time of his suspension.
