Michael Cuddyer

[William Malone]

Michael Brent Cuddyer was born on March 27, 1979 in Norfolk, Virginia.

He grew up in nearby Chesapeake, leading the way for an impressive local pipeline to the Majors. Cuddyer was drafted in round one out of high school by the Minnesota Twins in 1997. Fellow Chesapeake natives David Wright (drafted 2001), B.J. Upton (drafted 2002) and Justin Upton (drafted 2005) were all first round picks in the coming years. Being the oldest of this group, Cuddyer was often seen as a role model for local players in the area. Wright even called him a God after the New York Mets signed Cuddyer ahead of the 2015 season.

Signing Cuddyer after the draft proved to be difficult for the Twins. He had football and baseball scholarship offers from Florida State, much like Joe Mauer, and negotiations with the Twins came right down to the wire. He finally agreed once Minnesota increased their signing bonus offer from $700,000 to $1.3 million. Cuddyer quickly became one of the best prospects in baseball, peaking as the league's 18th ranked prospect on the 1999 preseason list produced by Baseball America. After being drafted as a shortstop, the Twins moved him to third base in 1999. By 2001, he seemed to be playing everywhere except shortstop. This continued for much of his Major League career.

His big league debut came on September 23, 2001 after driving over 20 hours from New Britain to Minneapolis with planes still grounded after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Despite spending most of 2002 in Triple-A, Cuddyer made the Twins postseason roster and started seven of the team's ten playoff games in right field. He made his first career Opening Day start in 2003, but a mid-season trade for Shannon Stewart saw Jacque Jones slide over to right field and take those at-bats away from Cuddyer. The next several seasons saw him in a super utility role, playing almost every day but not having a full time position. Between 2001 and 2005, Cuddyer logged time at third base (157 games), right field (70 games), second base (60 games), first base (34 games) and left field (8 games).

2006 was the first time Cuddyer had a full time role with the Twins. He started 137 games in right field for them that season, also providing a breakout season at the plate. His 41 doubles and 109 RBI in 2006 were career highs, and his .284 average was the best mark of his career without the benefit of playing his home games at Coors Field. Cuddyer remained the Twins starting right fielder through 2011, with a stint as their first baseman in the second half of 2010 after Justin Morneau suffered a career altering concussion. He received MVP votes in 2009 when he launched a career high 32 home runs, and was named to the All-Star team in 2011.

He left Minnesota as a free agent after the 2011 season, signing with the Colorado Rockies. Cuddyer is one of just four players in Twins history with 100 home runs, 200 doubles, and 30 triples (Mauer, Oliva, Puckett). He was inducted to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2017.

During his three seasons with the Rockies, Cuddyer hit .307 and won the National League batting title in 2013. However, the 2012 and 2014 seasons were both shortened by injuries. Cuddyer signed with the New York Mets ahead of the 2015 campaign, joining forces with childhood friend David Wright. They helped the Mets reach the World Series, where they fell in five games to the Kansas City Royals.

Since retiring, Cuddyer has spent a lot of time working for USA Baseball. This has included several stints managing their youth teams. He most recently managed the U18 team in the 2023 U18 World Cup.

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[stringer bell]

Cuddyer is probably my all-time favorite Twins player. He was always team-first and always played hard. There are no black marks on his record and he went on to have success with the Rockies and Mets. IMHO, he is the kind of guy to be emulated.