New Rockie?
It is being reported by Troy Renck of the Denver Post that the Rockies are all but inked with Michael Cuddyer…and the inking will happen today.
From Renck’s Twitter account today:
Rockies, barring any surprises, hope to wrap up Cuddyer signing today. All signs pointing toward them landing the free agent
Cuddyer was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 1997 draft (ninth pick overall). He made his debut with the Twins in 2001 and has been a mainstay with the team since 2004 when he played 115 games. Cuddyer has been pretty durable as he has more than 143 games played in five of the past six seasons (injuries cut his season to 71 games in 2008).
Cuddyer reportedly will cost the Rockies $27 million over the next three years which means they will own Cuddyer through his age 35 season. He isn’t a spring chicken.
Over the past three seasons Cuddyer’s OPS+ has been OK (124 in ’09, 107 in ’10 and 121 last season).
His career triple slash of .272/.343/.451 is pretty much exactly what he has produced over the past three seasons. His batting average and on-base average have been essentially the same each of the past three seasons and only his slugging percentage has fluctuated. In 2009 Cuddyer set a career best in slugging when he slugged .520 but that dropped down to .417 in 2010 and went up closer to his career norm in 2011 when he slugged .459.
The past two seasons Cuddyer has a better strikeout percentage than his career norm but his walk percentage is down slightly.
All of this is good and says he hasn’t begun showing signs of age yet. Of course, he hasn’t ever performed at a really high peak, either.
According to baseball-reference.com Cuddyer has been worth about one win over an average player over the past five seasons with one outlier last year in which he was valued at three wins over an average player. According to BR.com he is below average in the field, by quite a bit and most of his value comes at the plate. His total zone and UZR numbers on fangraphs.com show that he is a subpar fielder, too.
At first glance it doesn’t look like the Rockies are getting much of an upgrade over Seth Smith (who presumably becomes completely expendable). The only problem with Smith are his splits when facing a left hand pitcher. Cuddyer doesn’t bat as well against righties as he does lefties (Cuddyer bats right handed) but his splits are not that severe and not out of the norm.
Quite frankly the Rockies need another right hand batter, as strangely as that sounds.
If the Rockies do in fact sign Cuddyer today Rockies fans have their outfield set for 2012: Cuddyer playing the easier corner outfield spot and Carlos Gonzalez playing the more difficult spot and Dexter Fowler in center.
Smith could be turned for a middle infielder as the Rockies are still looking for third basemen and possibly another second basemen; not sure they are sold on DJ LeMahieu.
My opinion? Not much of a big splash for the Rockies. They are getting an average outfielder who should provide 20 home run pop for the team. But they are also getting him past his peak and being that he has never been the most athletic player he could see a sharp decline.
The best part of the Cuddyer signing? His photo’s. Check out his flickr stream as he loves to take pictures of ballparks when he travels and some of his pictures are amazing.
Follow me on Twitter and become friends with BSB on Facebook
Loading ...
Loading tweets...
6 comments
2 pings
Joseph Bell
December 16, 2011 at 10:43 AM (UTC -6)
So now that we have him I say we ditch Kevin K. and possibly someone like Seth Smithor Ryan Spilborghs to get David Wright from the Mets.
Travis Lay
December 16, 2011 at 1:38 PM (UTC -6)
Spilly and Kouz are already out of the picture. The Rockies didnt offer either a contract or arbitration.
Not sure Smith will net Wright, but I think it is safe to say that Smith will not be part of the Rockies in 2012 either. He is trade bait now for sure.
Logan Burdine
December 16, 2011 at 1:50 PM (UTC -6)
Look for O’Dowd to try to get a starting pitcher in return. Then, after that fails, he will probably give him to the Dodgers for a player to be named later.
Michael
December 16, 2011 at 4:27 PM (UTC -6)
10 million a year for a right-handed, older version of Seth Smith (who the Rox don’t think is good enough)? This is what we are cutting payroll for? This player is not good enough to help us win now and he is to old to help us in the future. He is a great clubhouse guy, he was the heart and soul of the Twins, what does that even mean? Tulo and Helton are supposedly those things and when the team started losing last year that was part of the problem, “they can’t relax because they care too much”, “they want it so bad they’re pressing”. If we want to win now around a Tulo/Cargo nucleus we should have spent this money on pitching and traded some prospects for a mediocre righty bat. If we are building for the future we should have used that money to sign international players or soak up a bad contract from another team and have them throw in a young prospect. This move shows that the front office is listless and scared.
CodenameDuchess
December 16, 2011 at 6:00 PM (UTC -6)
I couldn’t agree more. What does this signing accomplish? The biggest holes are in the pitching staff and 2nd/3rd and this doesn’t address either. Essentially we’re getting a guy who is older and not any better than Seth Smith (He is potentially worse) but doesn’t have as drastic splits? Wow, I’m blown away O’Dowd, please submit this one for deal of the year buddy. I can only hope that they’re still planning on using a platoon with Smith and this gives the team the consistent right handed bat that Spilly failed to provide last year.
Lastly, can we please cut it with the veteran presence/clubhouse culture bullshit. Doesn’t Helton already provide this? Or Giambi (is he coming back?). Tulo isn’t a damn rookie anymore can’t he be counted on? If they were so concerned with the clubhouse why not offer a guy like Spilly who by all accounts is everybody’s best friend and the guy that keeps people loose? Sure he sucked last year but dammit we need a positive clubhouse! Maybe Tracey is the damn problem not the lack of “veteran presence”. And yes I put it in quotes because I think it’s bullshit intangibles gibberish.
I can’t help but think that this deal screams, “hey there casual rockies fan, you’ve heard of Michael Cuddyer therefore this is a good deal!”
Ken
December 17, 2011 at 12:24 AM (UTC -6)
I betcha’ we win the World Series for most congenial clubhouse in baseball!
But thanks, Travis, for the insight and taking the time to flesh out your thoughts on this deal. Nevertheless, I’m not rushing to complete my mini-plan renewal form.
What’s really wrong with the Rockies? |
December 20, 2011 at 9:40 AM (UTC -6)
[...] ← Will the Rockies sign Michael Cuddyer today? [...]
The Rockies master plan is almost complete and baseball won’t know what hit’em |
January 16, 2012 at 4:35 PM (UTC -6)
[...] and the team is loaded with possibilities in the minor leagues to help in the outfield. Once Michael Cuddyer was signed by the Rockies Smith and Spilborghs were definitely [...]