Cruz Drawing Interest From Mets

With free agent and trade dominoes falling all over the place well in advance of the MLB Winter Meetings, you never know what's going to happen on the off-season market on any given day.

One of the bigger free agent names the Texas Rangers are paying attention to is their own free agent, slugger Nelson Cruz.

Cruz, of course, was suspended for the final 50 games of the 2013 regular season for PED use, but was the club's home run and RBI leader when he was suspended. He's probably the biggest power bat on the free agent market and he's set to earn a pretty nice payday, despite the suspension last season.

The New York Mets are one of the clubs that seems to be pursuing Cruz the hardest, along with the Seattle Mariners and the Rangers.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported that the Mets are still heavily pursuing Cruz even after signing free agent outfielder Chris Young.

If Cruz signs elsewhere, the Rangers will receive draft-pick compensation — a first-rounder in most cases, but if it's the Mets, it would be a second-rounder since their first-round pick is protected.

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