Former Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer retiring, per report

Former Colorado Rockies and current New York Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer is hanging 'em up, according to ESPN's Adam Rubin.

Speculation began to swirl on Friday evening when Cuddyer was listed as retired on MLB.com's transactions page. Reporters were initially denied comment from the Mets, who could've put a stop to the speculation at that point but, for now-obvious reasons, did not.

Cuddyer turned down a $14 million qualifying offer from the Rockies at the end of the 2014 season and later signed a two-year, $21 million deal with the Mets. Cuddyer is still owed $12.5 million from that deal. He won't be leaving it all on the table, though; some sort of buyout is likely in place, per Rubin.

The Rockies used the draft pick awarded to them as a result of Cuddyer turning down the qualifying offer and signing with another team to draft high school pitcher Mike Nikorak, who struggled in his first taste of pro ball but is still considered a highly promising prospect. Meanwhile, Cuddyer was limited to just 117 games and 408 plate appearances, hitting .259/.309/.391 for the eventual National League champions.

In his three seasons in Colorado, Cuddyer won a batting title, hit for the cycle once and managed an overall .307/.362/.525 line. Over his 15-year career with the Mets, Rockies and Minnesota Twins, the Virginia native hit .277/.344/.461 with 197 home runs and accumulated 16.6 rWAR.

Cuddyer was injured frequently and played on a lot of bad teams during his time with the Rockies. But when he was on the field, he was a solid offensive performer, and perhaps more memorably, was one of the better dudes to ever don purple pinstripes.

We wish Cuddyer the best of luck in his post-baseball endeavors.