ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Rochester Red Wings ended a long affiliation with Baltimore and signed a working agreement with the Twins that started this season.

The Orioles had been providing losing clubs that contained a minimum of prospects. Naomi Silver, the Red Wings' CEO, tired of this and looked for an organization that would provide more entertaining baseball.

There was considerable optimism last spring that the Twins would be sending an International League championship contender to Rochester.

So much for optimism. There are two weeks left in the season, and the Red Wings are battling Syracuse to avoid last place in the six-team North Division.

The reason for this disappointing season might sound familiar to followers of the 2003 Twins: lousy pitching.

The Twins have taken Rochester manager Phil Roof's best young pitchers -- Juan Rincon and now Grant Balfour, again. There were also injuries.

There are many excuses, but if you ask the locals about the Red Wings, you get one of two responses: A) "I don't follow them"; or B) "Their pitching stinks."

The Red Wings' flop as a team does not equal the setback Michael Cuddyer's career has endured. This was the season that Cuddyer, the former No. 1 draft choice, was going to establish himself as a force in the Twins' lineup.

A problem with this expectation developed in spring training. The Twins had three right fielders: Cuddyer, Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty. Mohr had an outstanding spring. Kielty was an established big-league hitter, both left-and righthanded.

In mid-May Cuddyer was sent back to Class AAA, allegedly to get more at-bats and sharpen up for a return to the Twins this summer.

Roof was asked to use Cuddyer frequently at second base. The Twins wanted to increase Cuddyer's versatility. They also wanted to see if Cuddyer could be an alternative to the then-struggling Luis Rivas in 2004.

On May 29, the Red Wings waited out a long rain delay. Once the game started, Cuddyer was scoring standing up from first base on a double. One stride from home plate, he felt a tug in his left hamstring.

"I had never had a hamstring problem before, but I knew instantly it was trouble," Cuddyer said.

Cuddyer was hitting close to .400 at the time. He spent 16 days rehabbing the hamstring, then returned to the lineup. In his second game, the pull resurfaced in the same spot.

Sixteen days later, Cuddyer again felt ready. Sure enough, in his third game back, the hamstring pulled again. "The area around the hamstring turned black," he said.

Cuddyer was sitting in the home dugout at Rochester's Frontier Field. Black-clad Pawtucket was taking batting practice. "It was the color of their jerseys," he said.

Cuddyer was sent to the Twins' training complex in Fort Myers, Fla., for a more relaxed attempt at rehabilitation. It was nearly a month before he played in a rookie league game in Fort Myers.

"I ran the bases full go and did everything in the field," Cuddyer said. "When I got back here, I didn't have any doubt that this time I was ready to play."

Roof said Cuddyer has not returned to his pre-injury form. "Michael's been getting a few hits, but his swing isn't where it was before all this started," the manager said.

Cuddyer is 24, an age at which a top hitting prospect is supposed to be making an impact in a big-league lineup. "It has been the most frustrating 2 1/2 months I've faced in baseball," he said. "It's hard not to look at it as a wasted year so far."

Cuddyer hopes to change that this winter. He plans to play in Puerto Rico, for a team managed by Al Newman, the Twins' third base coach.

"I think the Twins want me to keep working some at second base," Cuddyer said. "What better way to work on that than playing for Newmie, the guy who coaches the infielders for the Twins."

Cuddyer was a high school shortstop when the Twins drafted him No. 1 in 1997. They moved him to third base, where his scatter arm led to a large number of errors.

"I had a problem with my footwork," he said.

Footwork would seem to be even more of an issue at second base. "The throws don't require as much," Cuddyer said. "And on double plays . . . I did OK. I made a few. I like it there. If nothing else, being able to play second, third, left and right can't help but increase my value for the Twins."

The only thing that would make Cuddyer more valuable -- for either the Twins or Rochester -- would be if he could pitch.