Robinson Cano Leaving AL East (written after Cano signed with Seattle)

I was literally a second away from publishing a post bashing Jay-Z and Robinson Cano for trying to make the Mariners bid against themselves for Cano's services. Cano had been offered $225 million over 9 years, then Jay-Z reportedly demanded $252 for 10 years, and outraged Mariner ownership stormed away from the proverbial table. The Yankees had offered Cano $170 million for 7 years.

And just as I was on the verge of clicking "publish," I heard that the Mariners and Cano had agreed to a 10-year deal worth $240 million. And that makes sense based on the other numbers. Cano gets less per year, but gets an additional year.

It's an insane deal. Cano is a great player, a potential Hall of Famer, but this pays him until he's 40. Many baseball contracts are becoming insane. It's only a matter of time before we see $300 million deals for top players. One day we will see a $400 million deal.

Making the deal more insane is that Cano has only hit 30+ HRs once in his career. He's never slugged .600 or had an OBP over .400. He's only slugged .550 or higher once (.550 on the dot in 2012), and only had an OBP of .380+ twice. He turned 31 in late October so he's at his peak right now. And he's a damn good player. But if he didn't play second base I don't think people would drool over him as much as they do. Because his numbers are not shattering.

But the Mariners are much, MUCH better with him. And the Yankees are much worse without him. And the Yanks also look quite dumb for giving Ellsbury $21.9 million a year but not giving Cano $24 million a year. Cano was the entire Yankee offense last year. And now Ellsbury is their best hitter. Taking Cano out of the 2013 lineup and putting Ellsbury's numbers in, Ellsbury would have led the Yankees in average, OBP, SLG, and OPS. Cano has hit almost as many homeruns in the last 2 seasons as Ellsbury has his entire career.

Anyway, I'm just happy Cano is out of the AL East. That's really all that matters.

In 156 career games against the Sox, Cano hit .308 with 21 homeruns and 104 RBI. I don't mind him moving to another division. Not one bit.

BORAS > HOVA: Jay-Z Costs Cano Millions (written before Cano signed with Seattle)

If you're a baseball player and you want to make the most money possible, why do you hire anybody but Scott Boras? The guy gets his clients paid. He may not be as cool as Jay-Z, but he shows his clients the money.

I don't know why Jay-Z decided to go into the world of sports agency. I think he watched a few episodes of Entourage and wanted to be the sports world's Ari Gold. And if the rumors out of Seattle Friday morning are true, it seems like he doesn't know what he's doing.

According to sources, Robinson Cano's representation had been able to convince Seattle to offer him a 9-year deal worth $225 million ($25M/year). Then Jay-Z wanted more, and demanded 10-years at $252 million. By the way, that's the same deal A-Rod took, which left a bad taste in Seattle's mouth. Mariner ownership reportedly flipped out, ending negotiations.

What Jay-Z did was ask Seattle to bid against themselves. The Yankees have stayed firm with their offer of $170 million over 7 years ($24.3M/year). Nobody was close to Seattle's offer. And I have to say that it's more than generous. Yet Jay-Z demanded more.

Imagine being at an auction, and you bid $225 for a Robinson Cano autographed baseball, and the next highest bidder was $170. Then the auctioneer demands that you increase your bid to $250. Even though you've already bid the most and nobody is close to your bid. That's BS.

I just can't imagine Boras making a team feel so blatantly disrespected. Boras is conniving, scheming, sneaky. And I'm sure owners don't enjoy dealing with him. But he is a born negotiator. He's too clever to do something as brash and dumb as this. Cano's representation essentially told Seattle to get on their knees, open their mouth, and swallow whatever they put in it.

Don't forget, Cano's camp initially wanted $300 million for 10 years. I think Jay-Z literally pulled that number out of his ass. That number was not based on market value, or relative contracts, or anything real. It was a big, loud, flashy number. There was no substance behind it, just lots of noise and self-promotion. Exactly like Jay-Z's music.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images, Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE