Colorado Rockies rumors: Michael Cuddyer will not be traded

The Colorado Rockies entered the 2014 regular season with six outfielders on their big league roster. That number is down to five, with multiple young players ready to go in the minor leagues.

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In the meantime, veteran outfielder Michael Cuddyer was activated off the disabled list this past weekend. He is batting .331 this season and hit for the cycle on Sunday to boot.

In his contract year, one would assume that the logical baseball decision is to look to trade a healthy Cuddyer to a contender for a piece or two. The only problem is the fact that the Rockies are inclined to be loyal…like, really loyal.

It sounds like the Rockies might have been ready to confront the uncomfortable task of trading Cuddyer before the beginning of September, but a minor injury has given them an excuse to keep him instead.

From Ken Rosenthal:

Even with Cuddyer being 34 years old next season, and even with plenty of talented options in the outfield, the Rockies will likely re-sign him. If it takes a qualifying offer to buy them time to make that move, they will do that too.

There is no question that Cuddyer has been valuable to the Rockies the last few years. Furthermore, that value has extended beyond the field itself with his leadership in the locker room. Even still, the Rockies would have been wise to proactively seek a way to get more for him as his contract runs out.

They didn’t, they won’t, and this will likely be the most recent example of why the Rockies are consistently at the bottom of the standings.