MLB Report: Robinson Cano Signs With Seattle Mariners (10 years, $240 million)

[Halu Sination]

The Mariners and Robinson Cano are in agreement on a 10-year, $240MM contract, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com (Spanish link). The contract will tie Albert Pujols for the third-largest deal in Major League history.

Reports from earlier today indicated that talks between Cano and the Mariners had crumbled after Jay-Z suddenly upped his demands back to $252MM when the Mariners were prepared to offer $225MM over nine years. The two sides appear to have reached a middle ground, with Cano's camp dropping by $12MM or so and the Mariners agreeing to add a tenth season at $15MM.

Cano, who turned 31 in October, batted .314/.383/.516 with 27 home runs in 2013 and has averaged a batting line of .314/.369/.530 and 28 home runs over the previous five seasons. Paired with plus defense at second base, Cano has been worth an average of 6.8 (Baseball-Reference) or 5.8 (Fangraphs) wins above replacement.

Cano's enormous sum is just $2MM more than the combined $238MM that the Yankees paid to sign Brian McCann (five years, $85MM) and Jacoby Ellsbury (seven years, $153MM).

[Halu Sination]

I'm extremely disappointed that the Mariners caved in for the 10th year. I thought the negotiations were off, would've been hilarious if Cano was left without any suitors.

Don't feel bad at all Yankee fans. You guys just avoided a catastrophe. Mariner fans, congrats as you guys got your franchise player. I pray for the best as these type of contracts haven't been working out too well these last few years.

[Hack Wilson - real]

lmao



this is going to be even worse of a contract than Pujols!  thanks for saving us from making a huge mistake, I think McCann/Ellsbury is a better investment than just keeping Cano's non hustling ass.


will miss him but he'll decline early in that ballpark and with that lineup

[MistaNova]

I think McCann/Ellsbury is a better investment than just keeping Cano's non hustling ass.

#shitdisgruntledYankeesfanssay.

I always considered Cano's lack of hustle (or what appeared like it) to be very smart and kept him from getting injured. Case in point? Giancarlo Stanton (the huge outfielder and only hitter worth a damn on the Marlins) charged the first base line on a ground ball in 2013 and tore a hamstring.

Anyway congrats to the Mariners for finally being able to outbid the Yankees, although I do wonder where this money was back when Griffey (or A-Rod) were on their way out the door. I guess those TV deals really do make a difference. I hope you enjoy Cano, get another hitter or two and manage to take Price out of the AL East.
As for the Yankees, 4th place in the AL East has their name written all over it.

[Don Jacob]

lawl @ the mariners

[Halu Sination]

I think McCann/Ellsbury is a better investment than just keeping Cano's non hustling ass.

#shitdisgruntledYankeesfanssay.

I always considered Cano's lack of hustle (or what appeared like it) to be very smart and kept him from getting injured. Case in point? Giancarlo Stanton (the huge outfielder and only hitter worth a damn on the Marlins) charged the first base line on a ground ball in 2013 and tore a hamstring.

Anyway congrats to the Mariners for finally being able to outbid the Yankees, although I do wonder where this money was back when Griffey (or A-Rod) were on their way out the door. I guess those TV deals really do make a difference. I hope you enjoy Cano, get another hitter or two and manage to take Price out of the AL East.
As for the Yankees, 4th place in the AL East has their name written all over it.

Not to go off subject but Griffey was actually traded upon his own request to play in his hometown.

In any case, Mariners might be in serious contention for David Price since they don't seem to have an issue of giving up prospects anymore, and Tampa Bay sure loves stealing prospects. With Price, they would have one of the best 1-2-3 combos in the AL, but they would still have a ridiculous way to go from getting into serious contention.

Yanks can still salvage their season. Stephen Drew, Infante, Colon, Balfour... still a lot of players who can make a big impact on the team. If there's any outfielders you want, you better make it quick though, because Seattle is going to be going all out on those same outfielders lol.

[MistaNova]

Outfielders? We don't need any more outfielders (although that's not to say the Yankees won't go after more though), what we need is pitching. Kuroda resigning with the Yanks is awesome (and probably the only off-season transaction the Yankees did that I'll actually like) but even then our rotation won't stand a chance against those that the Red Sox and Rays have.

If the Yankees can't sign Tanaka, Ubaldo or Garza then they'll have to trade Gardner (because no one would want to take Wells, Ichiro or Soriano) for a decent pitcher.

[Halu Sination]

I just mentioned OFers because I keep hearing that Cashman is dead set on Beltran for some reason.

In any case, Tanaka continues to look less and less likely with the max posting bid, with Tanaka's team President saying "Japanese professional baseball isn't a development system or farm for the big leagues." Yikes.

Ubaldo and Garza would make decent pick-ups though.

[Remedy360]

Good. Obviously overpaid, but I do not give a fuck. Any Mariner fan would understand.

[Hack Wilson - real]

I think McCann/Ellsbury is a better investment than just keeping Cano's non hustling ass.

#shitdisgruntledYankeesfanssay.

I always considered Cano's lack of hustle (or what appeared like it) to be very smart and kept him from getting injured. Case in point? Giancarlo Stanton (the huge outfielder and only hitter worth a damn on the Marlins) charged the first base line on a ground ball in 2013 and tore a hamstring.

Anyway congrats to the Mariners for finally being able to outbid the Yankees, although I do wonder where this money was back when Griffey (or A-Rod) were on their way out the door. I guess those TV deals really do make a difference. I hope you enjoy Cano, get another hitter or two and manage to take Price out of the AL East.
As for the Yankees, 4th place in the AL East has their name written all over it.

far from disgruntled


we had Cano as our #1 player on a team with no first basemen and no catcher and we missed the playoffs.


We'll get Tex back, Jeter back, bring in McCann and Ellsbury and will be an improved team.

[MistaNova]

We'll get Tex back, Jeter back, bring in McCann and Ellsbury and will be an improved team.

Teixiera is in decline and is a shadow of his former self.
Jeter is a decent hitter but his defense sucks ass and will cost the Yankees one too many runs.
McCann is decent both as a hitter and catcher but he won't be able to carry the entire team.
Ellsbury couldn't stay on the field if his life depended on it.

[Hack Wilson - real]

We'll get Tex back, Jeter back, bring in McCann and Ellsbury and will be an improved team.

Teixiera is in decline and is a shadow of his former self.
Jeter is a decent hitter but his defense sucks ass and will cost the Yankees one too many runs.
McCann is decent both as a hitter and catcher but he won't be able to carry the entire team.
Ellsbury couldn't stay on the field if his life depended on it.

Ellsbury's injuries are all because he hustles too hard.  I like that. 


Oh and remember how painful it was watching Cano in the World Series?  Yuck.  For every amazing thing he did in the regular season I literally cannot recall and significant moments of him in the playoffs in general.


It'll suck seeing him go to Seattle and hit 25 homers next year and walk a shitload of times but the Yankees are a team and not one individual.   I gave Red Sox fans a lot of shit for them trading Adrian Gonzalez who was by far their best player and they go and make some small pickups and win the World Series.

[MistaNova]

Ellsbury's injuries are all because he hustles too hard.  I like that. 

You won't like it when he misses nearly half the season and the Yanks end up having to give Wells more playing time.

Oh and remember how painful it was watching Cano in the World Series?  Yuck.  For every amazing thing he did in the regular season I literally cannot recall and significant moments of him in the playoffs in general.
It'll suck seeing him go to Seattle and hit 25 homers next year and walk a shitload of times but the Yankees are a team and not one individual.   I gave Red Sox fans a lot of shit for them trading Adrian Gonzalez who was by far their best player and they go and make some small pickups and win the World Series.

Last I checked almost everybody on the Yankees's roster was horrible in the postseason, not just Cano. Only exceptions were most of the pitchers, Ibanez, Ichiro and Jeter.

As for the Red Sox there are three things they have that the Yankees don't, a young talented core, a good farm system and depth. Pedroia, Bucholz, Lester, Doubront, Nava, Bradley, Bogaerts, Tazawa and Middlebrooks are key members of the Red Sox's succes and they were all brought up in that organization and this list will continue to grow bigger thanks to their kick-ass farm system. Barnes, Cecchini, Bentz, Marrero, Buttrey and Ball, they're all on the come-up and will continue to keep Boston competitive for years to come. Their farm system and huge budget allows them to be able to trade or buy anybody that they want (well almost everybody). And unlike the Yankees they're spending their money wisely and only giving relatively short-termdeals to effective players. In 2013 guys like Victorino, Napoli and Uehara made all the difference to them.
The Yankees are not young, their farmsystem is dogshit and have zero depth. If the main guys get hurt the Yankees will be in deep shit all over again.

And while I agree that baseball is a team sport the bottom line is that an Ortiz-less Red Sox roster is a lot better and talented than a Cano-less Yankees roster. Everyone around Ortiz is better than everyone who would've been around Cano in 2014.

[Hack Wilson - real]

Yankees were 4th place last year with Cano and Granderson....they both got mad overpaid this off season.  You gotta move on and make the best decisions for both now and the future and watching Cano play until 41 for more money than Albert Pujols is retarded.

[Remedy360]

Yankees were 4th place last year with Cano and Granderson....they both got mad overpaid this off season.  You gotta move on and make the best decisions for both now and the future and watching Cano play until 41 for more money than Albert Pujols is retarded.

I'm sure I'll be crying myself to sleep 10 years from now.