The Mets signed Michael Cuddyer at the start of the 2015 off-season. On the day a chunk of the baseball world thought Cuddyer was going to take the qualifying offer from the Rockies, Cuddyer signed a two year deal with the Mets. He struggled with the Mets, especially towards the end of the season and in the post-season and retired leaving quite a bit of money on the table at the end of the season, which ended up being one of the major stories of the 2016 season (it is difficult seeing the Mets getting both de Aza and Cespedes with Cuddyer still on the team). Here are what the projections thought Cuddyer would do:
PECOTA (BP): 265 PA, 29 R, 14 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 31 RBI, .260 BA, .320 OBP
PECOTA (MLB.com): 465 AB, 57 R, 14 HR, 60 RBI, .258 BA, .319 OBP
MLB.com: 412 AB, 60 R, 14 HR, 60 RBI, .279 BA, .340 OBP
ZiPS: 372 PA, 42 R, 21 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 44 RBI, .271 BA, .325 OBP
Steamer: 597 PA, 543 AB, 63 R, 28 2B, 2 3B, 18 HR, 69 RBI, .254 BA, .313. OBP
ESPN: 66 R, 19 HR, 67 RBI, .265 BA
Average: 411 PA, 473 AB, 52.8 R, 21 2B, 1.7 3B, 14 HR, 55.2 RBI, .265 BA, .323 OBP
(Originally posted here)
And here are is 2015 numbers:
408 PA, 44 R, 18 2B, 10 HR, 41 RBI, .259 BA, .309 OBP
This was another player the computers had a hard time pinpointing how much playing time he would see. Also the models were all over the place with ESPN saying 19 homers and BP PECOTA saying 7. All in all, his numbers were slightly below what was projected. The gap feels smaller because it feels like Cuddyer was terrible for the Mets, but these numbers say otherwise. He wasn’t good for them on the field, but he was terrible either.
He had a tremendous career and hope he has a great retirement!
