When Robinson Cano signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Seattle Mariners after rejecting multiple offers from the New York Yankees, many were aware of the poor decision he made. Cano is perhaps beginning to realize it now, too.
In case you missed it, former MLB player and Mariners coach Andy Van Slyke criticized Cano on the radio last week and basically said the second baseman's laziness cost the team's coaching staff and some front office members their jobs.
Cano did have an inauspicious first half to the 2015 MLB season, but so did the rest of that Mariners team. Nelson Cruz was pretty much the only player who wasn't consistently mediocre or bad for a long stretch. When that happens, all hope is lost, and the finger cannot be pointed at one player.
Additionally, Cano arguably made up for that when he played admirably through a sports hernia injury during the second half of the season. However, it was too little too late and the Mariners' higher-ups cleaned house and brought in a new general manager and coaching staff.
Whether Cano is to blame or not, his play during the first half of the season may have actually reflected how he feels about being in Seattle.
"...even if Cano has had the best intentions as a Mariner, one long-time friend who spoke to him recently says the second baseman is not happy in Seattle, especially with a new regime in charge there now, and that he'd love to somehow find his way back to New York," writes John Harper of the New York Daily News.
Well, if that happens to be true, I'm sure a majority of MLB fans that would not care about Cano's unhappiness. The All-Star second baseman had it all laid out for him in New York: the spotlight, the chance to be "the man", a long-term lucrative contract that would have paid him an equally absurd annual salary compared to his current deal, the short porch in right field, the opportunity to be the best second baseman in Yankees franchise history, and a plethora of endorsement deals that would have probably helped him earn that $240 million he so desired.
Instead, he opted to sign a decade-long deal with a snake-bitten franchise that lacked balance in terms of offense and pitching and rejected a seven-year, $175 million deal with one of the game's most storied franchises. Since signing Cano, the Mariners' biggest moves were bringing Cruz aboard and trading for Mark Trumbo. They failed to upgrade the pitching staff and instead ended up trading starter J.A. Happ and reliever Fernando Rodney this past season, only to see them succeed elsewhere.
Before Cano arrived in Seattle the last position player to lead the team in WAR was Brendan Ryan (4.0) in 2011. If that's not an indication to avoid signing a 10-year contract with that team, I'm not sure what is.
And now, the 33-year-old is likely stuck in the Pacific Northwest, whether he likes it or not. He still signed on for $192 million over the next eight years and with the way the contract landscape is shifting in the MLB, there probably isn't a team that would take on that deal. After just two short seasons in Seattle, Cano registered his worst campaigns since 2008, when he batted .271/.305/.410 with 70 runs scored, 14 home runs and 72 RBI. It's evident his best years are behind him, especially after he decided to sign on to play 81 games for each of the next 10 seasons in one of the most pitcher-friendly/toughest-hitting ballparks in the MLB as a 31-year-old.
As a fan of humanity, I would love to think Cano signed with Seattle with hopes of turning around a franchise that has never won a World Series, or that he wanted to go elsewhere so he can prove his abilities were not the product of his favorable environment in New York.
However, one can only deduce that he took the money and ran considering he rejected a $175 million offer that would have accompanied millions more in New York-based endorsements and instead went to a team coming off four consecutive losing seasons and eight in the 10 years prior.
And then goes on to post videos like this one social media:
Getting ready for next season. @Mariners pic.twitter.com/iSg6IVmUOf
— Robinson Cano (@RobinsonCano) November 23, 2015
Gettin ready, or burning two calories? (Note: he is coming of double sports hernia surgery, but when in doubt, don't post a video that makes you look laughable.)
Even if he seriously wanted to come back to New York, it's not happening. The Mets and their frugal ownership would rather sell the team than take on his contract and the Yankees also aren't in the business regarding such financial moves either.
"The Yankees don't seem to want him," writes Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. "When asked Monday what the chances of a Yankees reunion with Cano are, a person in the know said, 'None.'"
It stinks for Cano that this report leaked because whether it's true or not, he's going to get flak for it. I'm sure he doesn't care though, because he didn't seem to care when fans and pundits called him out for bailing on the Yankees two years ago and taking extra money he didn't need to immerse himself in a situation much less conducive to success.
