Nelson Cruz contract request: Four years, $75 million

Texas Rangers' outfielder Nelson Cruz is seeking a four year deal worth $75 million in the free agent market, according to Jon Heyman.

That seems nuts for a guy who has big power and a big arm, but whose range in the outfield has dropped off, and who doesn't get on base at a great clip.

Cruz was reportedly looking for a four year, $56 million extension last offseason, and when that report came out, I thought such a request was ludicrous.  But at this point, there appears to be a good chance Cruz will surpass that amount.

What is helping Cruz is the lack of power bats on the market this offseason, combined with an increase in TV dollars and teams that are looking to spend money.  Ken Rosenthal wrote earlier today that the Seattle Mariners are "desperate" to add bats and, because they are not competitive and are in a pitchers park, will likely have to overpay to land someone they want.

Cruz is supposedly someone Seattle is interested in, and it wouldn't shock me if, after missing out on some of their other targets, the M's ended up moneywhipping Cruz.

In any case, it seems extremely unlikely that Cruz will be returning to Texas.  While I think the Rangers have interest in Cruz, it would be on a two or three year deal at significantly less than the almost $20 million per year he is asking for.

More from Lone Star Ball:

• Dan Haren to the Los Angeles Dodgers: 1 year, $10 million
• Jhonny Peralta agrees to four year deal with St. Louis
• Angels sign reliever Joe Smith to 3 year, $15 million deal
• Brian McCann close to deal with Yankees, Rangers out of running
• Heyman: Cruz sought 4 year, $56 million extension last offseason