24
2013
Mets Should Tell Boras, Hell No On Robinson Cano!
An article by 
The funniest thing I heard with the Yankees and their contract negotiations with Robinson Cano is Scott Boras would take this to the open market to possibly draw the Mets in as an antagonist. That’s what Boras does, and the presence of other teams – some out of the desire to make things difficult for the Yankees – would boost the price.
I laughed out loud when I read one of the teams should be the Mets. Seriously, how could anybody write that and have the readers keep a straight face?
Regardless of Fred Wilpon’s desire to spend money next year, it won’t be on Cano for four significant reasons.
First, the Mets won’t bring in anybody for more than the $138 million package they gave David Wright. He’s a homegrown franchise player and nobody will beat that amount, at least not in the next year. Five years from now, maybe. But, not in 2014.
Secondly, the Yankees would never let them be beaten out by the Mets for a player they both sought. The Mets can’t go toe-to-toe with the Yankees financially regardless of how much money Wilpon wants to spend.
Both the Mets and Yankees wanted Carlos Beltran, but the Yankees cooled at the end. Even after getting his final offer from the Mets, Boras went back to the Yankees one last time. Boras wanted the Bronx, but for that price the Yankees were concerned about Beltran’s mental toughness in the New York market.
Third, if the opening figures are to be believed – $175 million over seven years from the Yankees and a $225 million demand over ten years from Boras – there’s no way the Mets could, or should, compete on that level.
Both numbers are excessive, and the Mets have too many holes that can be filled for that amount.
Which brings us to the final reason: As good as Cano is, he’s not enough to be the missing piece of the puzzle for the Mets. Cano will go to a team capable of winning in the present, not in two or three years. The only exception is Boston. The Red Sox are antagonistic enough to go after Cano in part to aggravate the Yankees, but also know losing him hurts the Yankees. That’s what they did with Bernie Williams andAndy Pettitte, and it is easy to see that happening with Cano.
Cano is a marvelous talent, even if he doesn’t always run out ground balls or work the count, but he’s not worth that much money. Hell, the Yankees would be smart if they told Boras their offer is of the take-it-or-leave-it variety.
Considering how they are being burned by the Alex Rodriguez contract, and the rebuilding they have to do when Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, C.C. Sabathia and Pettitte are gone, they’d be smart to spread those dollars around and let Cano go, even if it meant Boston.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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There are a lot of factors at play here with the Yankee payroll, it’s not just the luxury tax and the now prohibitive nature of going over slot in the draft, there’s also the fact that they’ll lose the revenue sharing bucks in a couple of years. They’ve stated their desire to scale back and the Old Man is no longer around to push the envelope. We may be watching a slow protracted demise when you consider they’re going to need upgrades at like 5 major positions over the next few seasons and outside of an outfielder and a catching prospect their farm doesn’t look like it’s going to provide them with much help. The killer “B’s appear to be in the midst of a major flame out.
I think the only team that could be a major player for cano is the dodgers. They don’t seem to mind spending a lot of money for players that they want. Expect them to make a big offer.
Boras just cracks me up.
‘Regardless of Fred Wilpon’s desire to spend money next year, it won’t be on Cano…’
This ^
With Wilmer Flores attempting to move to 2B, Jordany Valdespin going back to 2nd and Reese Havens (if he isn’t DFA) all in AAA, the Mets have no reason to spend on 2B especially when they need an OF or 3…
Can Cano play RF?
caught the tail end of a piece on MLB network yesterday. Not sure who was featured, but the premise was using some metrics to identify players that were primed for a collapse in 2013. And Cano was one of them.
don’t remember the exact details, but it looked at stuff like speed decline, and swinging strike % in the zone. In effect, warning signs based on declines over the last couple of seasons.
Josh Hamillton was another guy.
Cano is a top 10 ML player, but for 1/5 the price, I’d take Murphy and use the rest of the cash to sign a couple of good outfielders. Then, from what’s been recently said regarding Flores, I’d be ready to shift Murphy to the bench where he’d become one if the best bench players in the majors and balance out the lineup with Flores’ potent and powerful bat.
Also, don’t under estimate Murphy being traded in July if Flores is ready. With a typical Murphy year and his versatility around the infield, he’d be a great addition to a contending team at the deadline and could get the Mets a much needed outfield prospect they’ve been looking for. It all hinges on the Mets’ record at that time as well. They won’t do anything with Murphy if they’re actually close in the wild card at that point, but if not, I’m sure Sandy is going to look at building the 2014 team as soon as this year’s trading deadline.
If you’ve read the stories the last few days about Flores, it seems the Mets are really high in him and believe he’ll handle second base. He seems to be their future at that position.
I see Cano getting 8 years $200M.
No way….and if so, that team would be ridiculed….
I don’t know about the “hell no” part of it. It would be great to have Cano on the team.
But yeah the price that it would take to get him (especially considering the Mets would need to outbid the Yankees) would probably be ridiculous and not worth it. In terms of why Boras would try to get the Mets involved, I think you answered your own question with “the Yankees would never let them be beaten out by the Mets for a player they both sought.”
The price will probably be too high for the Mets, but I don’t think it’d hurt to listen.
Lets start with the fact that most of Canos appeal is his home run power, not his range, or his plate discipline, his overall hustle, ability to draw walks, or his on base percentage.
In the next step let’s take a silhouette of Yankee stadium and place it over the other 27 ballparks in the major leagues, now let’s see how many of Canos home runs over the past five years would be on his stat sheet if he played in other ballparks.
I would venture to say that he would lose 50% of those home runs.
In my opinion I don’t believe that he’s the type of player that any team should commit to a seven or 10 year deal for anything over $130M. Fenway Park would be a good fit for Cano because the right field fence is also somewhat short but he probably wouldn’t hit more than 15 home runs at Citifield.
And although the money Boras has made this off-season would be a king’s ransom to most of us, he’s really feeling the effects of a system that has become anti-mega agent.
With the way the new system is working by losing top picks, most teams are balking at making runs at free agents that aren’t perfect 10′s. Obviously a team will not care about losing its picks over someone like Grienke, Pujols, or Hamilton, but the free agents that are 7s, 8s & 9s, are getting second looks and second thoughts.
The deal he eventually got for Bourn was a failure, Bourn could have gotten that deal by himself, without an agent, with the Braves, five months earlier, without being exiled to a city like Cleveland. The same thing is happening with him and Lohse, so obviously it’s in his best and interest to start stirring the pot one year early on his situation with Cano.
We don’t need to spend money in the neighborhood that they’re talking about on ANY second baseman. We need to spend that sort of money on a top tier center fielder/leadoff hitter, I’m talking a TRUE top tier…… But where the hell is he ????
That’s a bit of an exaggeration. While hitting in ballparks like Yankee stadium (and the other hitter friendly parks in that division) do help….losing more than half his HRs elsewhere is unlikely.
Here’s an overlay of the landing spots of his HRs in 2012 over Citifield. http://www.hittrackeronline.com/overlay/overlay_1361737959_520115420.jpg
There were only about 4-5 HR that wouldn’t have been out out Citi’s dimensions. This measure isn’t perfect – it’s not only the dimensions that determine HRs… in some places (like Toronto) the dimensions are reasonable but the ball seems to travel further for whatever reason and I’m not sure if fence height is fully accounted for. And it’s possible a player will change his swing a bit depending on his home park…so he might not have hit all those balls in the same places if he was at Citi. But its not like all of Cano’s HRs are 316 ft shots down the line.
RedSox wouldn´t get involved. Pedroia at 2B is one of their cornerstone players. They love what he brings to the team. I see the Dodgers and maybe the Angels as the only big players for Cano at that price.
It’s not just that Cano hits in a bandbox, but he’s always hit in stacked lineups which takes the pressure off a hitter. Go look at what happed to Jesus Montero’s numbers when he left the Yankees and tried to hit with the Mariners at Safeco field if you want to see a perfect example of how that works. Granted that is an extreme example, but it’s all part of the same dynamics at work. Or just look at how much Beltre’s numbers took a hit during the time Safeco was his home.
If you look at Cano’s situational and “clutch” stats during his career, it appears he is also one of the most unclutch hitters in baseball. Anyone complaining about Wright and clutch hitting should have a big problem if the Mets ever pursued Cano.
At any rate, since it appears the Yankees this season will have a weaker lineup than in recent years — especially now that Granderson is out for a few months — then I predict Cano will have a falloff in production this year due to the increased pressure. It won’t be huge, but it will impact his value in the market slightly.
I think the Yankees and Dodgers are going to be bidding over his services, and whichever one wins is going to overpay a lot and be pretty sorry within 4 years when Cano’s production nosedives even more due to age.
“and whichever one wins is going to overpay a lot and be pretty sorry within 4 years when Cano’s production nosedives even more due to age.”
EXACTLY.
But that doesn’t apply to Wright? And also a lot can happen in those 4 years depending on who signs him. I hate Cano with a passion but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be productive after 4 years.
That being said, no Mets fan should be looking down on Robinson Cano, complain about a potential expensive and disastrous contract when you have the exact same situation at 3B. And that contract could prove to be a disaster this year let alone 4 years from now.
Wright gives better interviews
case closed
Any long term contract is a risk for sure. However we aren’t talking anywhere near the same amount of money either. People are floating 8/200. Wright is no where near that.
ehh you say 138 million, i say 200 million
what’s a few 10s of million among millionaires…..and however the divvy it up or spread it out…and especially when none of it is our money..
Eh on second thought let’s just rationalize anything towards whatever our prejudices are, what the heck.
What fun. Now the flavor of the day is “how can we rationalize Cano’s contract as potentially bad while at the same time make Wright’s signing look GOOD!.
Let’s do that kids!
David Wright wasn’t given the contract he was given due to his on the field performances, how can you not see that ????
He was given that contract extension because he is the face of the franchise, because his contributions go way past Citifield and because he has been loyal to a team that didn’t have the tools to be a contender for many years, and for that he’s being rewarded. He represents everything that is good, and wholesome, in New York baseball.
Cano will never be the face of a franchise irregardless of how many home run derby home runs his corked bat can hit.
So then that makes it okay if Wright is a shell of himself a year from now (or 2) when maybe the team could be in the middle of a pennant race and the Mets need to fill the 3B position.
Got it.
One day you’ll understand there only one thing that matters. Winning and what’s the best thing to do to win ballgames. Okay so it’s 2 things.
Nowhere in my post did I say that it was a good, or bad, signing.
And I also didn’t comment on whether or not David will be a good player, or a bad player in a year, or two years, or three years.
I only commented on the reasoning, from the Mets standpoint, behind the $138,000,000 contract .
If Cano ends up signing a team-friendly deal the way Wright did, for about the yearly amount Wright settled for, then I will stop criticizing him. But as long as he and Boras continue to play hardball with the Yankees and hold out for far more than he is worth, then he is fair game.
I hope he does go to free agency, continues to ask for ridiculous money, draws other teams like LA into a bidding war, and makes the Yankees severely overpay. It’s good for baseball when the Yankees are saddled with albatross contracts and so have less to spend on other free agents.
If the Mets spend big money next year,which I don’t think they’ll spend an extraordinary amount,they’ll invest it into the OF,maybe buy out Ike’s arbitration years if he has a good year.
Hell no on Cano? LMFAO it was great to get away from this place for a few days. Wow.
2010 – .914 OPS, 3rd MVP, GG, SS, AS
2011 – .897 OPS, 6th MVP, GG, SS, AS
2012 – .929 OPS, 4th MVP, GG, SS, AS
WOW, Just F**king WOW!
Boras + ANYONE = NO F**KING WOW!
To pay 150 – 200M for a player from age 31 to 38 is the stupidest decision a team could make.
AND thats relying on the fact that he will be 31 next year, hes probably really turning 35.
31, the Dominican 35.
Go hug your David Wright blowup doll. lol
Im actually not really a Wright fan at all, I can take him or leave him.
I’ve just seen our organization make too many mistakes on huge, long-term contracts, for players in their thirties – and have those contracts hanging over us like an albatross after two or three years.
I think that we are in a great position right now, and the addition of a huge long-term contract for millions, on a position we dont need, would just hamper our progress.
I think that if Wheeler and D’arnoud pan out the way many predict, we can be a postseason team by only adding a quality outfielder, or two, next year.
We don’t NEED a second baseman, if we were to find a top tier center fielder that was also a great leadoff hitter for the same type of contract we are talking about for Cano, I would say, YES, because that’s a position that we need. But we are fine with what ever second baseman we throw out there.
It’s the equivalent of saying, ” Hey, the Angels are willing to give up Pujols for whoever will pick up his contract and pay him the $20,000,000 a year that he makes.”
That doesn’t make any sense because we don’t need a first baseman, we’re fine with what we have.
We’re fine at second base with Murphy or Flores, or Havens or Spin.
Bring on the type “A” centerfielder/leadoff hitter for $15 – $18M a year !
And dont say we missed out on Bourn, cause hes not it.
Any suggestions?
So, the best reason to sign Cano is…because David Wright sucks.
Perfect sense.
No, reason is because he’d make the mets better, and we can move wright out of the 3rd slot in the lineup to put less pressure on him. if we somehow get a guy like cano (Won’t happen) we can finally say we’ve got our Utley and Howard convo for years to come in Cano and Ike…
Alex, when I read this post last night and saw some of these comments I literally wanted to punch my monitor. We just gave some 30 year old who’s in decline $140 million to play until 2020 when he’s 38, and they are bitching about one of the best players in baseball over the last three years who plays a middle infield position no less. Can you believe that? They are trashing Cano before he even files for free agency. It would be safe to say he’d be the best player on the Mets. Oh wait I forgot we have Nimmo.
That’s the argument, alex, will he maintain the numbers?
And no, that’s not the argument you and Maniac and Bayonne made. As usual, you took this as a chance to bash the player on the team you claim to root for.
Your argument is that since we made 1 dumb move, we should make a second one.