When you factor in the fact that Texas Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan and MLB commissioner Bud Selig are good buddies, you have to like the recent comments of Ryan if you're a Rangers fan.
Speaking to Randy Galloway on ESPN 103.3 FM, Ryan said he wasn't concerned with the possibility of losing Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz any time soon due to the ongoing investigation and allegations surrounding the Miami-based clinic Biogenesis and its alleged supplying of performance enhancing drugs to several MLB stars, including Cruz.
Cruz is in the midst of one of his patented hot streaks at the moment and has taken nicely to hitting in the 3-hole in the Rangers lineup for the first time since 2010. On the season, the slugging right fielder has a team-high 19 home runs to go with 55 RBIs and is hitting .271, on pace to exceed his career highs in both power numbers.
"I don't know that there's a time frame that they're dealing with," Ryan told the radio show. "I know that they're in a fact-finding mode right now, so we'll just have to wait and see how that plays out. But do I worry about losing Nellie here shortly? No, I don't. I really think he'll be with us and we'll just have to see where that goes."
Cruz has reportedly not been contacted by MLB investigators yet, and while Ryan said the MLB officials have declined comment on the matter in his conversations with them, you have to take some solace in the fact that Ryan seems so unconcerned with the matter.
"We realize that the players' association has to be brought in and any other investigations and then they're going to have to do interviews with the players they suspect, so I think it's going to be a long drawn-out affair," Ryan said. "I don't really expect, as had been rumored from ESPN, that they might do something right after the All-Star break."
