Michael Cuddyer surprised a lot of people Monday by accepting a two-year deal with the New York Mets rather than re-signing with the Colorado Rockies.
The Colorado Rockies suddenly have an extra $15 million in the budget and there are a lot of sighs of relief going on in Denver.
The New York Mets on Monday announced the signing of Michael Cuddyer to a two-year deal in a move that defied the expectations of many experts and fans alike. The deal contract is worth a total of $21 million, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman. Cuddyer is a great guy and no true Rockie fan wishes him anything less than the best, but it's hard to see this as anything other than great news from Colorado's perspective.
Welcome to New York @mcuddy3! We've signed outfielder Michael Cuddyer to a two-year contract. #Metspic.twitter.com/1pwpJzESmB
— New York Mets (@Mets) November 10, 2014
This morning, it seemed as though Cuddyer would be the first player to accept his team's qualifying offer and Rockies fans were already turning up the heat on their displeasure with allocating so much money to a player who has missed as much time to injury as Cuddyer has.
Now, the Rockies will instead have a compensatory, supplemental first round pick in next year's draft as well as other avenues for those resources -- and no ambiguity about the security of Corey Dickerson's starting role.
I also hope this means seeing Carlos Gonzalez in right field next year. Y'know, if he is still wearing purple.