by: Ben Embry
The Yankee Empire, fresh off an 8-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays that put the final nail in the Yankees' 2013 playoff hopes, woke up today to utterly shocking news: superstar second baseman Robinson Cano is reportedly asking for a 10-year, $305 million contract this winter. WHA-WHAT?!
This would be the same amount the Yankees signed A-Rod for following the 2007 season, ($275 million plus incentives). It's interesting to me Cano is using this pact as a comp. On the surface, Robbie should rightfully expect to get as much or more money as any Yankee free agent in recent history. He has been New York's best player for the past 4 seasons and in the discussion for the best player in the game today. He is on the threshold of Yankee legend-dom. Give him a couple more years playing at this level and he becomes unquestionably the best second baseman in team history, (he may be there already). In a couple years I think it'd be fair to start talking Hall of Fame.
But even the slightest of mentions of the A-Rod extension should surely give management and ownership pause. Frankly, it should give them nightmares. They've been trying to get out from underneath that contract harder than Jesse Pinkman trying to escape a Nazi desert base camp. Do you really want that situation in the back of the team's mind during negotiations, Robbie?
For years, Cano has been compared and contrasted to Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia because they've been the best two players at that position over the past decade. The 30 year old Pedroia recently signed a healthy but not unreasonable 7 year, $110 million extension. He'll be 38 before the deal is completed, thus making him a Bean-head for life. Good for him, and good for Boston. It's what they both wanted. It'd be kinda nice if Robbie felt the same way about the Yanks, wouldn't it?
Ultimately you have to see that this is a negotiating ploy. There's no way Cano gets $305 million from anyone, not even the Yankees on their most desperate day. I hope Robbie comes back. I hope the Yankees give him a fat contract, (even fatter than he probably deserves), because if they're going to throw money around, who better to give it to then possibly the next great Yankee? But if he leaves because we didn't give him $300 million, than New York should hold its head up high and maybe even feel relieved, because that kind of contract generally works out for the worst.
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