After weeks of negotiations that felt like a lifetime, free agent second baseman Robinson Cano and his newfound agent Jay-Z struck a deal of the ages Friday, securing a contract with the Mariners for 10 years worth $240 million. The deal ties for the third largest in baseball history, only trailing the two contracts Alex Rodriguez signed with the Texas Rangers in 2000 and the Yankees in 2007. It is the largest contract ever given to a second baseman.
And it is an egregiously bad move for the Mariners.
While the Yankees also officially lost Curtis Granderson in free agency to the Mets Friday as well, fans in the Bronx — while may be in mourning — should be joining a collective sigh of relief.
A contract this large, for a player who is already 31-years old, is only going to cripple the Seattle franchise for years to come. Sure, Cano, who is a yearly MVP candidate and who is in the midst of his prime, is one hell of a player. He’s the best second baseman in baseball. For Yankees fans he is irreplaceable. But not since the steroid era (ie. Barry Bonds) have we seen a player perform at top-level capacity well into their late thirties.
Look at the St. Louis Cardinals, who refused to sign Albert Pujols to a 10-year deal worth $240 million two years ago, although he was arguably the most beloved Cardinal since Stan Musial; Pujols had two World Series rings for goodness sakes. After the Angels signed the 31-year old they were obviously expecting MVP-caliber play. What they’ve received instead is an injury-plagued player who is posting the lowest numbers of his career. Pujols has hit 47 home runs over two seasons with the Angels, the same amount of home runs he hit for the Cards in 2009 altogether. The Cardinals on the other hand — knowing not even a three-time MVP is worth that kind of money — replaced Pujols with free agent Carlos Beltran, who has performed exponentially better over the last two seasons, while also gaining a supplemental draft pick which they used to select Michael Wacha in the first round, who helped lead the team to their second World Series in three years.
The Yankees can now use the same strategy. Instead of overspending for aging players, it’s time to draft well; develop players; sign free agents intelligently.
Ask the Angels how that Josh Hamilton five-year deal is working out? I bet they weren’t expecting him to hit .250. Don’t even bring up Vernon Wells.
When Pujols, Cano and the players alike are still receiving $24 million per year to ride the bench during the last five years of their contract — all because they’ve lost their mojo — it will set their respective franchises back for years. Look at how desperate the Yankees are to get rid of the Alex Rodriguez issue; remember when A-Rod was benched in the 2012 playoffs? Even if A-Rod could play, he can’t play.
Cano is also a player who has only hit 30 home runs just once and now he’s moving to a ballpark that is made for pitchers. If you look at the MLB Park Factors, Yankee Stadium ranks No 7. in the league when it comes to producing runs, while Safeco ranks 15th. Moving the fences in at Safeco has obviously helped hitters somewhat, but it’s still a pitcher’s dream. Cano simply won’t put up the stats he did in the Bronx.
Adrian Beltre hit 48 home runs in 2004 for the Dodgers before signing with the Mariners in 2005. His first year in Seattle he only hit 19 home runs, although he played in the exact same number of games. A difference of 29 home runs?! Now in hitter-friendly Texas, writers are now considering Beltre for the Hall-of-Fame; he couldn’t hit in Seattle.
I realize the Mariners have money to spend and it may not be a free-agent’s dream. However, I would like to know how many other suitors there were. It was obvious the Yankees weren’t going to spend more than $170 million. Did the Mariners really need to up the ante so outrageously? Or were they simply competing with themselves? Who else has that kind of cash to spend on a second baseman? It’s very possible Seattle could have landed him for under $200 million, which still would have made a big dent in the franchise.
Either way, I feel the Mariners have a lot of moves yet to make if they expect to compete in the AL West; Cano is just the tip of the iceberg; a very, very expensive iceberg. And Yankees fans, because you didn’t spend that incredible amount of money, your playoff dreams will no longer be put on ice for long.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him @JHelmuth or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
