When the 2015 MLB season starts Michael Cuddyer will be 36 years old. He is coming off a season in which he played only 49 games due to a hamstring injury, yet the Colorado Rockies still made him a qualifying offer worth $15.3 million next year. Cuddyer would be foolish to turn down this offer from the Rockies for next season.

Usually qualifying offers are given to players who will garner contracts worth more yearly than the $15.3 million, which makes the Rockies extending him this offer strange. Many predicted that Cuddyer would score a two-year, $25 million deal as a free agent, which would have made more sense for the Rockies. Their thought process might have been that Cuddyer was searching for a multiyear deal and they only wanted to give him one year. This was a shrewd move if their goal was to guarantee he stays in Colorado next season.

Extending this offer to Cuddyer all but ensures he sticks around for a couple of reasons. First of all, Cuddyer’s value is pretty low considering he missed more than 100 games last season. Even though he has hit over .330 in the past two seasons and won the National League batting title two seasons ago, teams have to start wondering if he will be able to play a full season again at his advanced age. Because of this it would be a huge surprise if a team is willing to offer him more than $15 million a year.

The other reason he is more likely to stay in Colorado is the fact that any other team that signs Cuddyer would have to forfeit a first-round pick unless it is protected. Not many teams out there would be willing to forfeit a first-round draft pick for a 36-year-old who might play only two years with the team.

Cuddyer is still a very solid player and can really hit the baseball when he is healthy, but recently the perfect storm of things has happened that should allow him to remain a Rockie for at least next year. Cuddyer should accept this qualifying offer from the Rockies and take his $15 million to play in the best hitter’s ballpark in the league for 82 games. He can put up big numbers in 2015 and become a free agent next offseason when there will still be plenty of teams interested in his services.