Yankees outbid by Mariners
Cano inks $ 240 million deal with Seattle
Even as they began bagging offseason trophies (a $153 million center fielder, an $85 million catcher), the Yankees were struggling to sell their homegrown second baseman on the power of the pinstripes.
They wanted Robinson Cano. But they wanted him on their terms. The bidding escalated; the Yankees refused to budge.
By Friday morning, this expensive game of chicken had come to an end. The Seattle Mariners — a team that has not played in the postseason since 2001, a team that has not had a winning record since 2009 — plucked Cano away from the most storied franchise in sports.
Cano agreed to a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners on Friday morning, according to multiple reports.
The longtime Yankees second baseman will take a physical Monday before officially joining an organization that is hoping to use this signing to erase its 12-year playoff drought.
It is rare to see the Yankees outbid and even rarer to watch another team poach one of their homegrown talents. Seattle did both.
It took a jaw-dropping number to convince Cano to leave the Yankees, but $240 million is a jaw-dropping number. The contract was a coup for rap mogul Jay Z, a newly minted agent who was hoping to make a splash with his first major client.
Ever since the first salary request leaked out (10 years, $300 million), there was a sizable gap between what Cano wanted and what the Yankees were willing to offer. They wanted Cano for seven years. And they wanted him for $175 million or less.
They never were willing to shell out either 10 years or anything over $200 million, even though Cano hit .309 and had 204 homers during his nine-year run in New York.
So Cano will continue his career out West.