Rockies don't plan to move Cuddyer, are okay with terrible redundancy

Earlier this morning, Fox Sports' Jon Morosi reported that the Seattle Mariners inquired about Colorado Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer at some point during the offseason. In typical fashion, the Rox told Seattle they have no interest in moving Cuddyer, who is owed $21 million over the next two seasons.

A while back, I wrote about the Rockies' foolish insistence on keeping Cuddyer around despite the fact that his production and contract make him extremely expendable, especially considering the other pieces on the team's roster. All of that still applies today, especially now that Todd Helton has officially announced that he'll be returning for the 2013 season.

Morosi's tweet leads me to believe that the Rockies didn't even get into the stage of discussing players with the Mariners; that the team's brass simply said "no, we're not moving him," and possibly added something to the tune of "why would we part with Michael Cuddyer, are you crazy? This guy is an elite talent."

Okay, maybe that's not exactly how it went, but regardless of what was said during the conversation, it's hard not to feel like the Rockies dropped the ball here. Listen, I like Cuddyer. He seems like a stand-up dude, and can take a hell of a photo. But, I have a hard time envisioning a scenario in which he is irreplaceable on a team who has guys like Tyler Colvin, Eric Young Jr. and others who not only deserve the opportunity for more at-bats, but also would likely benefit the team in doing so.

In short, I'm sad about this. Who knows what the Rockies would have been able to get in return, but surely a big chunk of salary could have been unloaded, and that alone may have been good enough reason to deal Cuddyer.

Links

John Sickels released his 2013 Top 20 prospect rankings for the Rockies organization over at Minor League Ball. To sum it up, Sickels likes the Rockies' positional depth, but believes the team is lacking in pitching, especially those of the starter variety. No big surprise there. Be sure to check it out, though, as Sickels has interesting blurbs on each player (and is as bullish on Edwar Cabrera as I am).

Friday marked 5,000 days since the Rockies became the first team in MLB history to score in all nine innings of a game. Of course they did, because Coors Fi......wait, the Rockies accomplished this feat ON THE ROAD? Oh. Carry on, then.