To the Twins, Rockies and Mets, thank you for always treating me with class and respect. Thank you to my managers and coaches both in the minor leagues and major leagues. Thank you to my teammates. Every one of you holds a special place in my heart. Thank you to all of the front office workers, PR departments, clubhouse attendants, head clubhouse guys, and trainers for the wonderful relationships we formed. Thank you to all of the stadium workers and security that took care of my family while I was playing. Thank you to the fans, for loving me, celebrating me and especially for holding me accountable for times I didn’t live up to your standards.
Source: Michael Cuddyer, The Players’ Tribune
Everyone always said good things about Cuddyer and it’s easy to understand why. It’s too bad that by the time he got to the Mets that his career was on its last legs. Five years from now, most fans will have forgotten that he ever played for the club, no different from Rod Barajas or Frank Catalanotto from the 2010 club.
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I fear his tenure with the Mets will not be remembered fondly, and that will keep his name in our collective memories longer. We Mets fans love to rehash bad signings of the past.
The biggest FA signing of the 2014 offseason being forgotten? Please. I still remember the Alderson’s first failure as Met GM: DJ Carrasco.
He will probably be forgotten quicker than others though because he happened to play on a team that did well and got far in the playoffs. The closest comparison i could find someone like him might be Mike Bordick in 2000. The Mets gave up what i presume to be some solid players/prospects (Melvin Mora turned out nice) for an older (well, 34 isn’t that old in the PED-era) Mike Bordick. He didn’t play well at all, but no one really remembers because the Mets made it to the World Series. Bordick didn’t retire, but he bolted back to Baltimore at first chance. Too bad the Mets couldn’t convince the Rockies or Twins for a reunion, which would have made the comp even more fitting.
I’m sure you remember Rod Barajas, too. But then again, you’re not most fans…
Come on, still Rod Barajas? A guy who signed at the last minute for the minimum? At least compare him to someone with a little more profile like Chris Young or Gary Matthews Jr.
I went for guys who were on the team five years ago who played for a long time for multiple teams.
But Cuddyer was more than a guy filling a bench role at the tail end of his career. He was expected (by the front office and a good chunk of fans) to be an important cog, starter, and middle of the order bat for the 2015 team. Those guys are usually more memorable.
Yep, front office expectations versus reality.
Classy guy…could’ve played out the string, collected his golden parachute and rode into the sunset coins jangling…instead he’s richer in a gentlemanly manner, if he realized that he couldn’t contribute to the level of his expectations, then it’s “adios amigos, it’s been swell, and vaya con dios”. Now…convince Yoenis that it’s better the bright lights on Broadway; than the out-of-town “previews” in Cleveland.
He’s a flourescent banded attention wh_re and we love it. We have excellent hitting coaches, find a way into his egotistical mindset about his reincarnating the “Babe” and have a cigar named after him. Perhaps call the defunct Pepsi Porch. the Yoenis Bonus Homerus or the Cespedes Vestibule..it’s catchy and has a certain buzzz!
I wouldn’t be so quick to praise. For all we know, the Mets could be saving very little buying him out. Or even if he accepted a 50% reduction that’s still 6 million we are paying him for nothing and makes the overall deal 1 year 14 mil. The fact that they won’t publicly disclose the terms makes me doubt the generosity.
In the end there’s no reason to hate on him for getting an overpaid contract. Blame should go squarely on the idiot throwing around free money on the street.
Meticated, LOL! Great post!
Being extremely cynical and negative I guess, I admit to remembering Cuddyer as costing a first round pick for his bad year and not helping much statistically. My only hope is the younger guys – Conforto, Flores, Herrera, and maybe even Lagares – were paying attention and can learn from him. When I read his entry in The Players Journal, I could help but be a bit envious and wonder if the Mets organization could run that way some day… Best of luck Michael.
Gil Meche, Ryan Sandberg, perhaps Dennis Eckersley; now add Michael Cuddyer to a very short list of people who chose walk away from the money, when they concluded that they could no longer hold up their end of the contract to their own satisfaction. In my opinion this makes Michael Cuddyer more special than anything he ever managed to do on the playing field.
The Minnesota Twins are one of the teams I follow from a distance; as such I’ve been scoping Cuddyer’s career since his days in the Twins system, back when he, Michael Restovich, Matt LeCroy and a few others (Tori Hunter, David Ortiz and so forth) were going to lead the Twinks to a string of championships. It never quite happened; they became the beast of a weak Central Division but never amassed enough talent to surpass the Yankees and Red Sox. But in all it was a great ride for fans of Cuddyer.
I don’t think the team envisioned Conforto developing as rapidly as he did so I was ok with the signing. The problem with that signing was that they didn’t do anything else until July.
I’d like to see him come to Spring Training as a guest instructor. Maybe he could continue to assist in coaching Flores and Conforto a bit…
Maybe Wright defers some of his salary now to help convince team to bring back Cespedes.
Class guy. Even if there is some sort of settlement, he could have pretty much sat around for a year and collected the whole $12.5 mil. He chose not to. It’s just a shame that his one year with this team will be considered a failure, although we don’t know how much his leadership and clubhouse presence may have helped. I respect the man if not his numerical results.
Michael Cuddyer retiring and leaving money on the table was a commendable act. The Mets now has some extra money to spend on their needs.Cespedes would be the primary target but if the budget can’t afford him then Span should be signed. Cuddyer’s retirement will make the Mets more attractive to Span because he no longer would be in a strict platoon with Lagares. Lagares would be the 4th outfielder now and starting against LHP while substituting in the lineup equally for Conforto, Granderson and Span.Span would be getting more playing time.