Cano signs!

[mnfireman]

Per MLBTR:

 

By Steve Adams [December 6 at 9:57am CST]

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.

By joining the Mariners, Cano likely displaces one of Brad Miller or Nick Franklin. Miller impressed by batting .265/.318/.418 with eight homers in 335 plate apperances and playing solid defense at shortstop as a 24-year-old rookie in 2013. Though Franklin entered the season with more prospect hype, he wilted down the stretch and finished with just a .225/.303/.382 batting line. The 22-year-old Franklin spent nearly all of his time at second base this season (he played just 20 innings at shortstop), so it would seem that he is more likely to be the one who is displaced by Seattle's blockbuster addition.

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).

[Winston Smith]

Franklin would be decent pick up he sure looked good against the Twins. Played a lot of SS in the minors and could be a good middle infield backup. Of course looking good against the Twins doesn't mean that much.

[johnnydakota]

Look at the money the Yankees saved , not having to bribe another comish. to void the contract in season 6.

[notoriousgod71]

I take it back. THIS is the worst contract I've ever seen.

 

.860 career ops is worth 24 million a year now? For ten years? For a 31 year old? If the Twins made this signing I would be irate.

[johnnydakota]

I take it back. THIS is the worst contract I've ever seen.

 

.860 career ops is worth 24 million a year now? For ten years? For a 31 year old? If the Twins made this signing I would be irate.

 

If Terry made this signing , it would be proof of what some are already thinking, ....the pod people have stolen Ryan

[Mike Sixel]

Makes the Ellsbury deal look genius....

[James]

Makes the Ellsbury deal look genius....

I wouldn't go as far as "genius", but the words "less bad" would seem appropriate.

[ericchri]

I'm amazed he got his 10 years. I figured he'd end up taking 8 years at around $200 million and even that would have been horrible. I have a soft spot for Seattle, so I guess I hope this works out for them, but I doubt they get more than 5 years of that deal where it looks reasonable.

[howieramone1406390264]

This is the opposite of The Twin's Way. Incidentally, King Theo recently coined the term "The Cubs Way". It sounds like it's startlingly familiar.

 

Mike, I wouldn't say genius. I think the lesser of two evils is more appropriate.

[mnfireman]

History suggests that neither of these players will perform up to their contract for the entire term of the contract. ARoid, Pujols, Johan, Texeira, Vernon Wells, Matt Kemp, Zito, Ryan Howard, and Sabathia are examples that come to mind. Also Jeter, even though he performed well until that freak ankle break, but I guess that's the point I am trying to make, whether it be declining skills or injuries, the odds are against them.

[Winston Smith]

Not my money and the owner who writes the checks decided it was a deal he could live with. The guy plays every day and no history of injury, obscene amout of money but he might come close to earning it.

Might work out better than the next 5 years we have with Joe and all his injury issues.

[beckmt]

Would not have done it, but good for Seattle, and also good for baseball. Was glad to see another agent that Scott Boras deliver the goods. Yankees are heading for the second division as they do not have the pitching to compete.

This should help Seattle attract front line FA's to the West Coast. Also Seattle has the pitching to make some of these deals to get enough hitting worthwhile. They still have work to do, but way to go.

[TheLeviathan]

Nick Franklin wouldn't be a backup, he'd be our starting SS hands down. Talk is he's the centerpiece of a Price trade.

[TheLeviathan]

I'd rather have an elite 2B at this price than a speed dependent CF at Ellsbury's price personally.

[Mike Sixel]

Ellsbury has never had leg issues....and the data on teh internet shows that speed guys actually age well. He just stole 52 bases. I don't get the disdain for him at all.

[golfboy1]

It's crazy money but they are all crazy money these days. I think in the long run it will work against Seattle but it doesn't look any worse than many of the other deals being done. Which contract/player would you rather have? Pujols, Hamilton, Howard, Fielder or Cano? They are all going to be bad at some point but Cano's deal might be the best of the bad contracts.

[johnnydakota]

I'd rather have an elite 2B at this price than a speed dependent CF at Ellsbury's price personally.

 

interesting , the Yankees spent about the same to add 2 elite players , and they wont be on the hook in 9 more years, so while Me thinks Cano is the top 2b in baseball today, come 2014 look for some numbers to go down in his power department. I applaud the Yankees for making a wiser baseball decision ,Reminds me of the Cards and Albert

[PseudoSABR]

The Twins should definitely inquire about Franklin or Miller. Not sure about Franklin's defense. I wonder if Willingham could make it happen.

[drivlikejehu]

Franklin can't play SS in the Majors... he's not even particularly good at 2nd.

 

The problem with the Cano contract is timing. The Mariners aren't very good right now - even with him they are a .500 team at best. So this basically forces them into going all-out to win immediately but with a good chance it still won't work.

 

The money itself isn't totally crazy, once you account for the fact that the last few years are just deferred compensation. They aren't expecting Cano to produce much at age 40.

[Yaw Sniwt]

I guess Jay Z knows money and baseball. To all those who thought he was out of his league - SO WRONG

240 Million - not to mention his off field endorsements. WOW - Go CAA & Jay Z

 

Now Dozier and Prospect(s) for Michael Pineda? Just saying................

or Rosario and Willingham and Prospects...............

[Cris E]

The Twins should definitely inquire about Franklin or Miller. Not sure about Franklin's defense. I wonder if Willingham could make it happen.

 

I was thinking this too. They've got essentially no outfielders. If Willingham doesn't get them going we can dump anyone from our parade of RF last year: Doumit, Parmalee, Kepler (if they want to pretend that the future matters) and even send along an envelope to grease the wheels if that's what it takes. They shouldn't have any money issues, but you never know what will make an GM smile.

[JB_Iowa]

• SportsCenter ‏@SportsCenter 2h
  How big is Robinson Cano's $240 million deal with Seattle? Mariners have spent $239.2M in the previous 8 offseasons COMBINED.
   
   
  But M's have TV deal announced in April 2013: with the majority purchase of ROOT Sports NW the Mariners will see approx.. $2 billion over 20 years.
   
  So that's $100m/year if my math is right (I thought I saw a figure that was higher than that). And the Twins are at what? About $30m or so? (less than $50m even with the new agreement if I remember right).
   
  There is such a huge discrepancy in local TV money.
   
  But even with the M's new revenue stream, I wouldn't want to be saddled with that contract. It looks like they are using it as a bit of a "loss leader" to try to attract other free agents.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  

[Riverbrian]

Impressive Seattle Mariners acquisition.

 

What Cano looks like in 2022 doesn't matter right now. These guys are closer than you think.

 

They have King Felix... Iwakuma is legit... Walker is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and I expect Walker to start with the club and shine ala Jose Fernandez. James Paxton is also highly thought of.

 

They still have the money to sign Garza or Tanaka and the prospects to trade for Price or Samardzia.

 

The bullpen has young talented arms like Capps, Pryor, Farquhar.

 

Its the the offense that has held them back and singing Cano is a huge step toward solving that.

 

Not only could they sign Cano and a Garza or Tanaka but By Signing Cano... They just became more appealing to Choo or Nelson Cruz or Beltran and they can still afford those contracts in addition to Cano and a SP.

 

Kyle Seager is coming around. Zunino can play... He may struggle a little at first but he's the next wave of Young talented Catchers... Montero could rebound as DH or 1B. The guy is a hitter.

 

I've always thought that Saunders has a bunch of potential. Ackley... Franklin and Miller are top ranked prospects.

 

Could you imagine if Smoak lived up to potential although I'm not gonna hold my breath on that.

 

I guess... I just don't think the Mariners are that far off.

 

I think penciling them in as 4th in the west and thinking that they prematurely jumped in on Cano is a mistake.

 

They are close in my opinion.

[notoriousgod71]

Someone mentioned on mlbn that Seattle spent 240 million on Cano when it would have only taken 350 million to keep the Sonics in Seattle.

[TheLeviathan]

Ellsbury has never had leg issues....and the data on teh internet shows that speed guys actually age well. He just stole 52 bases. I don't get the disdain for him at all.

 

No disdain, just Ellsbury's isn't an elite player. A good one, no doubt, but not elite. Cano is elite.

[TheLeviathan]

I was thinking this too. They've got essentially no outfielders. If Willingham doesn't get them going we can dump anyone from our parade of RF last year: Doumit, Parmalee, Kepler (if they want to pretend that the future matters) and even send along an envelope to grease the wheels if that's what it takes. They shouldn't have any money issues, but you never know what will make an GM smile.

 

I'm reasonably sure that mess of "meh" will make him smile. But more in the "you gotta be kidding me with this" kind of way.

 

Ask yourself what Ryan would say if someone offered aging garbage like that for Dozier. And Dozier is significantly less valuable than Franklin. (a top prospect coming off a solid debut)

[kab21]

I was thinking this too. They've got essentially no outfielders. If Willingham doesn't get them going we can dump anyone from our parade of RF last year: Doumit, Parmalee, Kepler (if they want to pretend that the future matters) and even send along an envelope to grease the wheels if that's what it takes. They shouldn't have any money issues, but you never know what will make an GM smile.

 

Usually you have to give up something valuable to get a nice prospect. Willingham, Doumit and Parmelee basically have zero value.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Ellsbury has never had leg issues....and the data on teh internet shows that speed guys actually age well. He just stole 52 bases. I don't get the disdain for him at all.

 

What data have you seen that suggests speed guys who don't have other plus tools age well?

 

Ellsbury's main threat are his legs. His power isn't particularly good. His discipline isn't particularly good. His hit tool isn't particularly good. He had ~20 infield hits last season.

 

Once his legs are gone and he has to rely on his other tools (none of which are particularly good), what makes you think he'll still be a good player?

[Mike Sixel]

I have no idea when he will slow down, but it likely isn't super soon. But again, it is about what the Yankees can do, and I do not see this stopping them from signing others. In the meantime, they got a lot better in the OF. They just need to bid more for Tanaka in negotiations with him, and trade for a 2b, and they are back in the playoff hunt, since they already added MCCann.

[TheLeviathan]

Another way to chew on this: for two million more for the next seven years the M's bought themselves a vastly superior player. Ellsbury is basically a 100 OPS+ player if you don't count whatever that bizarre 2011 was. Every other season he has been roughly at 100. Cano is consistently at 125 OPS+ or better.

 

By the time year 8 rolls around it may not matter how bad Cano is he'll still be a much better investment.