gold star for USAHOF
 

Is this the year Curt Schilling makes it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Will Schilling be the only player elected to the Hall this year? After all the tumultuous voting activity of the 2010s, has voting for the Hall returned to "normal"?

Only a crystal ball, or the patience to wait until voting results for the 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame are announced on January 26, 2021, can give us the definitive answers, but of course that doesn't stop us from prognosticating before we learn the results.

For now, the short answers are:

1. Maybe.

2. Possibly.

3. Likely.

2021 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot: Executive Summary

In the timeline of Colorado baseball, Michael Cuddyer’s tenure was more of a high-yield guest appearance than a franchise-defining era. His arrival in Denver in December 2011 was a rare moment of aggressive free-agent spending for the Rockies, who lured the veteran away from Minnesota with a three-year, $31.5 million deal. While the move was partly a culture play—Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki reportedly lobbied heavily to get the respected veteran into the clubhouse, it was also a gamble on a 32-year-old outfielder whose best days were theoretically behind him.

Cuddyer’s time in Denver is essentially defined by a 2013 campaign that stands as the statistical outlier of his career. That year, he produced a run of efficiency that defied his age, capturing the National League batting title with a career-high .331 average. It was a summer where everything seemed to find a gap; he authored a franchise-record 27-game hitting streak and earned both an All-Star selection and a Silver Slugger. He served as the veteran-like heartbeat of a lineup that relied on his ability to drive the ball to all fields, finishing the year with 20 home runs and 84 RBIs.

However, the reality of his Rockies run was heavily impacted by the physical toll of a long career. His 2014 season was a fragmented collection of highlights interrupted by three separate trips to the disabled list, including a fractured shoulder, which limited him to just 49 games. Even in that limited action, he showed flashes of his professional poise, hitting for the cycle against the Reds in August. This made him just the third player in MLB history to achieve the feat in both leagues, but it couldn't mask the fact that his body was beginning to fail him. While his .307 career average in Colorado is statistically impressive, it came in a relatively small sample size of just 318 hits.

His tenure with the organization ended following the 2014 season, when he signed with the New York Mets.

Michael Cuddyer

A two time All Star, Michael Cuddyer spent most of his career with the Minnesota Twins, but his best season was in 2013 when he was with the Colorado Rockies.  That year, Cuddyer won the Batting Title and earned his only Silver Slugger.  He would have over 1,500 Hits over his career.
Michael Cuddyer announced today on the Player’s Tribune that he will forego his final season of his contract with the New York Mets and has retired from Major League Baseball.

The 36 year old was a two time All Star and spent most of his fifteen years with the Minnesota Twins, but it was with the Colorado Rockies in 2013 that he had his best season where he would win the Batting Title and was named a Silver Slugger.  He joined the Mets last season to play with his childhood friend, David Wright, and it was there that he made his first trip to the World Series in a losing effort to the Kansas City Royals. 

Cuddyer retires with 1,522 Hits, 197 Home Runs, a Slash Line of .277/.344/.461 and a bWAR of 16.6. 

We always the question when someone retires if he is a Hall of Famer and with Cuddyer, who would be eligible in 2021, had a good career he isn’t one.  Still, that does not take away from what was a productive career, and he could wind up in the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame one day.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Michael Cuddyer the best in his post-playing career.