Michael Cuddyer and the Butterfly Effect

The Draft:

In 1997, Minnesota had the No. 9 overall pick. Terry Ryan and company had strong interest in a three-sport standout from Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. Eventually they decided to draft Michael Cuddyer as a shortstop and pitcher in the first round. Looking back, it’s easy to say the Twins got it right on draft day, however their choice teetered on being irrelevant.

Cutting the Check:

The Twins found themselves at a standoff with their first round draft pick, as Cuddyer committed to playing at Florida State as a result of the Twins coming nowhere near his requested signing bonus. The Twins were well on their way to the peak of their penny pinching at this point and very well could have declined Cuddyer’s request and simply been compensated in the next year’s draft. Instead however, the Twins bridged the tremendous gap in their dollar amounts and increased their offer from $700,000 to $1.3m. The Twins got their man.

Peak Performance:

As we know, Cuddyer would find his way to the Major League club and eventually became a great everyday player for the Twins. In his 11 years in Minnesota, Cuddyer put up a .272/.343/.451 line, slugging 141 homers and posting a 111 OPS+ along the way. He made the All Star team in 2011, his last season in Minnesota. He was a fan favorite at the time and it was difficult to accept the Twins not signing him back. However, it may have been a good thing that they didn’t pony up as they did when they first drafted Cuddyer.

Rather than attaching draft picks to free agents via the qualifying offer like we do currently, 2011 used a “Type A and B” system. For hitters like Cuddyer, the league weighed things like plate appearances, batting average and on base percentage to determine what tier a free agent was. The top 20% were type A and netted a first-round pick for the team losing the player, while the top 21-40% were type B and netted a pick in between the first and second.

Cuddyer’s free agency came at the perfect time for all parties involved except the Rockies who would sign him to a three-year $31.5m deal. While the Twins did attempt to re-sign him, Cuddyer’s departure netted them the Rockies 2012 first-round draft pick due to his strong 2011 placing him firmly into the “Type A” pool. Cuddyer would go on to perform admirably in Colorado, even winning a batting title which stung for Twins fans. Minnesota however holds the last laugh in this signing.

Full Circle:

The Twins picked second overall in 2012 and chose Byron Buxton. They found themselves with Colorado’s first-round compensation pick as well which they used to draft a right handed pitcher out of Puerto Rico by the name of José Berríos.

In 1997, the Twins front office made the correct choice on draft day. Try as they may have, they couldn’t bring themselves to shortchange their new draftee and risk another team snatching him up down the road. After a long and fulfilling career in Minnesota, Cuddyer topped it off with an All Star season which ensured a healthy payday. While the Twins attempted to sign the 32 year back, Colorado just wanted him a little bit more.

All of these decisions and perfect circumstances tied together to net the Twins their current franchise pitcher in José Berríos. One small change along the way leads to a very different looking Minnesota Twins team despite the fact that this chain of events began nearly a quarter century ago.

For many, the Cuddyer/Berríos connection is old news. For others you may be hearing about it for the first time. In any case, I know it’s fun for me to look at a current Twins starting pitcher and be reminded that he’s tied to one of my all time favorites in Michael Cuddyer. For more trips down memory lane, continue to tune into Twins Daily this offseason!

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