The Seattle Mariners successfully acquired one of their top targets this offseason as reports indicated that Nelson Cruz agreed to a four-year deal on Monday.

ESPN reported that Cruz, who was considered as one of the best available players on the free agent market this offseason, will sign a four-year contract worth $57 million with a $1 million signing bonus.

The Mariners have long been linked to Cruz, but Seattle reportedly backed out of the discussion last winter. Reports indicated that the Mariners were not willing to offer a long-term deal to Cruz back then because of his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal and his injury history.

The 34-year-old outfielder then signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, where he enjoyed the best season of his major league career.

Cruz had a league-best 40 homeruns and ranked third in RBIs with 108. The veteran is expected to boost the Mariners' offense after finishing 11th in the American League in runs with 634 and last among AL clubs in OPS with .676 last season.

Baltimore offered a one-year, $15.3 million qualifying offer to Cruz in November, which means that the Mariners will have to surrender a draft pick as compensation to the Orioles.

The deal proved that the Mariners are indeed serious in their bid to become one of the strongest title contenders over the next several seasons.

The Mariners, who finished one win away from taking one of the AL wild card berths last season, signed Robinson Cano to a lucrative 10-year, $240 million deal in December last year, which came after they gave Felix Hernandez a $175 million extension in 2013.

Seattle also signed third baseman Kyle Seager to a seven-year, $100 million contract with an option for an eighth season last week.

Recent reports also indicated that Mariners are interested in acquiring Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes and Evan Gattis through trades. It is still unclear at this point whether or not they will still pursue trades for them after successfully signing Cruz.

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