This three-part series will look at significant players who were not traded at the deadline and determine whether their teams made the right decision.

What happened: The Rockies' season has been an utter disaster. It isn't surprising that Colorado isn't competing given Troy Tulowitzki's, limiting him to 47 games so far this season. Still, that doesn't excuse a 37-65 record, second to the hapless Astros. One of the few productive veterans on the team has been Michael Cuddyer, hitting .260/.317/.486.

He had a market; Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted one general manager said he would “love to overpay for Michael Cuddyer.” Instead, it will be the Rockies paying $10.5 million per year for Cuddyer's age-34 and age-35 seasons.

Was it the right move: No. As solid as Cuddyer's line looks, it needs some context. Cuddyer is hitting .269/.343/.511 at Coors Field but just .250/.287/.457 away from home; his .803 overall OPS is only good for a 101 OPS+ as a result, a negligible tick above average.

Cuddyer used to be a flexible fielder, able to play right field as well as first and occasionally faking it at second base as well (giving him beautiful second base eligibility this year in fantasy baseball). But now he is a bad outfielder, unable to cover the necessary ground Colorado's huge outfield requires, and he's not supplanting Todd Helton at first base either. 

Average hitting and poor fielding, particularly at a position like right field, adds up to mediocrity, and no rebuilding team should want to be saddled with that for eight figures over multiple seasons.

Conclusion: With the Rockies needing to rebuild –- their minus-101 run differential is the second worst in the league –- flipping Cuddyer for prospects and contract flexibility was not only the right move, it was an obvious one. General managers were aware that Cuddyer is overpaid, but due to a dearth of power bats on the market –- Hunter Pence has a .776 OPS and is probably the best hitter to be dealt this year –- there was a market there.

The Rockies need future value. They simply won't be getting it from Michael Cuddyer remaining in Colorado.

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the latest rumors from bloggers Chris Cwik, Jack Moore and Navin Vaswani, follow @MLBRumorsCBS.