Colorado Rockies’ GM Dan O’Dowd has been in search of a right-handed bat to compliment SS Troy Tulowitzki since the beginning of the offseason. On Friday, after dancing with a couple of people, he finally found the one he wanted to take home.

Cuddyer got a big time salary from the Rockies

The Rockies signed OF Michael Cuddyer to a three-year, $31.5 million contract. Cuddyer hit .284/.346/.459 with the Minnesota Twins in 2011 with 20 HR’s, and 11 SB’s in 584 plate appearances.

This is a boatload of money to give to a 32-year-old, who never has been a 3.5 win player in the Major Leagues. I am really not sure about this one for the Rockies.

Cuddyer is a good player. He’s a solid player that every team needs. However, to give $10 million a year to a corner outfielder, who isn’t a good defender and really doesn’t do any one thing really well, doesn’t make much sense to me.

There’s the possibility that Cuddyer could play third with the Rockies, but he hasn’t played third since 2010 and has only played 171 games there for his career. And here’s another thing; he didn’t play the position well at all. I always assumed you would give money to a guy for something he can do other than something he can’t do.

If the Rockies move Cuddyer to third and they keep Seth Smith in right, their offense is going to be vastly improved in 2012. Rockie third basemen were among the worst in baseball in 2011 offensively, so Cuddyer’s bat will be a valuable addition in that sense. But if that is going to be the defensive alignment in 2012, the Rockies are going to give up a lot of runs.

The Rockies better use Smith as a trade chip because if not, then this signing even makes less sense. I love how Smith is being treated as the jabroni in this case. Smith had a pretty darn good year in 2011 — just as good as Cuddyer’s. Smith hit .284/.347/.483 with 15 HR’s and 10 SB’s in 533 PA’s in 2011.

Those numbers are eerily similar to Cuddyer’s, so unless the Rockies are going to trade Smith for a pitcher or move Cuddyer to third, this was a lot to pay for leadership.

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By The Baseball Index