Although the Minnesota Twins and Josh Willingham agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal on Thursday, the team has not ruled out re-signing longtime Twin Michael Cuddyer:
There is growing hope within the Twins organization that they might be able to re-sign Michael Cuddyer, despite already signing free agent outfielder Josh Willingham to a three-year, $21 million deal.
"I would not rule out anything at this point, including Cuddyer," one Twins official said this morning in a text message.
Twins General Manager Terry Ryan has kept an open dialogue going with Cuddyer's agent, Casey Close. To my knowledge, the Twins still haven't pulled their three-year, $24 million offer off the table.
The addition of Willingham probably won't boost Cuddyer's interest in returning to the Twins, but he may not receive a better offer elsewhere. The Rockies and Mariners are expected to be the other teams interested in signing the 32-year-old. Cuddyer has been with the Twins his entire career since being drafted by the club in 1997.