It’s always sad to see the best player on your favorite team leave. It’s even worse when coupled with the retirement of one of the franchise’s all-time greats–Rivera. Yankees fans, while right to be sorrowful to see their superstar depart, should rejoice that the New York Yankees were not the team to give Cano his new 10-year $240 million contract.
This past Summer, Dustin Pedroia signed a seven-year $100 million contract. That’s less than 42% of what Cano got (and he’s certainly more than half the player) and less than what the Yankees just gave Jacoby Ellsbury. Pedroia’s deal is agreement that will keep him in Boston for his entire career while giving Red Sox the financial flexibility to make other impact signings.
While a team friendly deal like that would have been great for the Yankees and their now departed second sacker, I don’t expect anyone to give the Yankees a hometown discount, much less someone with a famous rapper as their agent. That said, the Robinson Cano contract negotiations were troubling from the start. His initial request for over $300 million was downright silly.
The Mariners pushed far, far too close to close to that number (especially with Nick Franklin and Dustin Ackley on roster) and this is a contract that will severely hamper their competitiveness. You won’t see it next season. In fact, if they can string together enough pitching, they may be pretty good next year, but three, four, five years down the line, these are the contracts that weight down an entire franchise.
I previously wrote that bringing Cano back should be an offseason priority for the Yankees, but that going much over $150 million would be foolish. As swallow the fact that our best player is gone, I thank Brian Cashman and the ownership team, from learning from past mistakes and making the painful but wise long-term decision. Instead of vastly overpaying for one player, let’s go add three great hitters and some pitching. Carlos Beltran is next!
Go Yankees!
Related articles
- Silverman: Yankees Have Much Work To Do Following Cano Defection (newyork.cbslocal.com)
- Dustin Pedroia ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ for Robinson Cano ‘And for Us’ After Former Yankee Signs With Mariners (nesn.com)
- Robinson Cano joins Mariners for 10 years, $240 million in stunning free agent deal (sportingnews.com)
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