Exclusive | Yankees pitcher Fernando Cruz credits moms deal with God to get him to the big leagues after more than a decade in the minors

She spoke to the Big Man upstairs to get her son to the big leagues.It took 16 years for New York Yankees ace reliever Fernando Cruz to get called up to the majors, two more to get the opportunity to play for his beloved Bronx Bombers — and three words from his mom to make it all happen.Virginia Manon, a mother of four and devout Christian, always “had this connection with the Lord,” and encouraged her son to continue his quest even when his minor-league career dragged into its second decade, Cruz, 35, told The Post from the dugout at Yankee Stadium ahead of Mother’s Day.“She told me: ‘Don’t quit please.God has something really, really special for you,'” he recalled.“It took me 16 years to get to the big leagues.

And those 16 years, straight up, I was always thinking about those words.And here I am .

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living a dream every day.”Manon died of brain cancer in 2021 at the age of 69 — and tragically never got to see her son get called up to the major leagues a year later by the Cincinnati Reds, or traded to his favorite childhood team, the Yankees, in 2024.Yet she predicted his future with uncanny accuracy.“In 2019, she told me, ‘Next year won’t be your year, 2021 will be your year,’ ” Cruz recalled.The pandemic wiped out professional baseball in 2020, but Cruz starred in the Caribbean Series in 2021 and was signed to play in Mexico by the Mariachis de Guadalajara.He earned the most saves in team history, and suddenly MLB took notice.“That’s when Cincinnati and other teams became interested in me,” he said.

He wound up making his rookie debut in the majors at the ripe old age of 32.“I think she made a deal with God. Like, ‘Alright, put my guys in the best position possible and take me with you.’ Because everything took place incredibly after she passed,” he continued.

Manon worked just as hard to fulfill her own dreams.A native of the Dominican Republic, she went to Puerto Rico illegally.

She met Cruz’s dad and ear...