Michael Cuddyer Topic Page

The Twins came just shy of the postseason last year, however made very little moves in the offseason to make the team better. It's clear that they're counting on growth from within to make this team contend in 2009.

Looking to improve this year.

Michael Cuddyer struggled through injuries last season. While he was rehabbing a hand injury, he was struck by a ball and broke his foot. The string of bad luck limited him to just 279 plate appearances, hafter surpassing 600 in each of the previous two years.

The big news of the week was Francisco Liriano's demotion to AAA Rochester, which came as no surprise after his 3rd start of the season lasted just 2/3rds of an inning. However, the biggest problem for this team this year (and all of last year) was it's offense.

Michael Cuddyer was rewarded for a great 2006 and a decent follow-up season in 2007 with a 3-year $24 million contract, which will keep him in Minnesota through the 2010 season. Let's dive into his numbers:

The Twins on Friday made the decision to bank their future largely on Justin Morneau, who was given a franchise record 6-year $80 million deal. Half the the contract will cover his remaining arbitration years, and the rest will span what would have been his first 3 years of free-agency. He will make $7.4 and $10.6 million, respectively over the next two years and in 2010 when the Twins enter their new downtown stadium, he will level off at $14 million per season for the remaining 4 years of the deal.

The Twins 9-2 victory over the White Sox on Tuesday night clinched a fourth straight series win for the Twins as they've quickly become the hottest team in the AL Central. They've won 6 of their last 7 and moved into a third place tie with the White Sox and trail the Cleveland Indians by 5.5 games.

Hitting grand slams has become commonplace for the Twins over the past week. Michael Cuddyer did it last Wednesday and Saturday. Tonight it was Jason Kubel—in dramatic 12th inning fashion. After Jesse Crain gave up the lead in the top of the 12th the Twins entered the bottom of the inning down by 2-1. Joe Mauer struck out to start the inning, but Michael Cuddyer was hit by a pitch to start a 1-out rally. Justin Morneau hit a drive that bounced over the outfield wall for a ground-rule double, preventing Cuddyer from scoring the winning run. Hunter was walked to set up a double play, but Kubel ruined Boston's plans by hitting a game-ending grand slam.

Since the 1-0 loss to Kansas City last Thursday, the Twins offense has shown strong signs of improvement. Most notably, they're getting hits from guys in the middle of the lineup like Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer. Tuesday night, Justin Morneau joined in the fun while contributing 2 homers and 6 RBIs to the Twins 15-5 trouncing of the the Texas Rangers. A little more than a month ago the Twins scored more runs in a game than they did in all of 2005 with 13 runs against Toronto. Tonight, they even surpassed that.

The Twins had a good day on Thursday against the Royals both offensively and defensively. Lefties Morneau and Mauer and also Batista and Castro had the day off today. Mark Redman started for the Royals, but didn't make it through the 2nd.

With a couple weeks to go until the season begins the right field position is still a little up in the air. Surely, a number of players will see some playing time out there all season, but Lew Ford or Michael Cuddyer will probably see most of the playing time there, at least early on in the season. It's uncertain if Jason Kubel will be on the opening day roster let alone, starting.

Last season at this time Michael Cuddyer was preparing to take over for Corey Koskie at third base. He had been a bright star in the Twins organization just trying to find an open spot in the lineup, and the Twins had finally put their trust in Cuddyer by letting Koskie leave for Toronto. Last season didn't go as well as everyone, including Cuddyer, had hoped. Cuddyer made 15 errors in just 95 games at the hot corner last year. Expected to have 25+ homerun potential, he hit just 12 and batted a mediocre .263 while missing a few weeks in the middle of the season due to injury.