Six years in a row with the Seattle Mariners, from 1978 through 1983, he stole over 40 bases each season and was the team's all-time leader in that statistic leading to his nickname "the Cruzer".

His franchise record of 290 was surpassed by Ichiro Suzuki, whose two stolen bases in a game against the Padres on May 18, 2008, gave him a total of 292.

Cruz was traded to the Chicago White Sox on June 15, 1983, for fellow second baseman Tony Bernazard.

In what was his only postseason play in his career, Cruz went 4-of-12 (.333) and had two stolen bases in the 1983 American League Championship Series, which they lost to the Baltimore Orioles.

Cruz was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame on September 15, 2004, in a pregame on field ceremony at T-Mobile Park, in Seattle.