Michael Cuddyer leaves Minnesota Twins, joins Colorado Rockies for three-years -MLB Update
The thing the Minnesota Twins feared and at the same time expected to take place became a reality on Friday, December 16, 2011, as Michael Cuddyer left Minnesota to sign on with the Colorado Rockies to a three-year contract worth a reported $31 million.
The outfielder expected to be landing a contract of his expectations sometime soon with another team but Minnesota was trying hard to keep the player on their club, which now proved to be useless.
Cuddyer was picked up by the Minnesota Twins during the 1997 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft and has spent the last 11 seasons of his career with them after playing his first professional major league back in 2001.
Throughout his career, Cuddyer has played a total of 1139 games and has 580 RBIs along with a .272 batting average, making him one of the best at what he does in the league.
"There's no secret that we're trying to retain players here, but we got to the point of no return," Minnesota general manager, Terry Ryan, said of the negotiations with Cuddyer. "We didn't want to be left without, and consequently this is the situation that
we felt was best at the time and we feel like it's going to be a good fit for the next three years."
The Twins had added Josh Willingham a few days earlier in order to compensate for the position if it was relinquished by Cuddyer. Had it not been, it would have added a lot of depth in the field for the Twins if both were on the roster next season.
Willingham might be viewed as Cuddyer’s replace now since he has left officially, but the former says that he has never considered himself to be such.
"I can't say that I've thought about that," Willingham said. "I know and respect Michael Cuddyer as a competitor and playing against him. And I know his whole career has been with the Twins but it wasn't something I thought about."
Cuddyer is a versatile player in the both corners of the outfield along with playing first and third base, giving the Rockies something to boast next season.
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