The Yankees and Robinson Cano only inched toward each other in nearly a year of negotiations and ended up miles apart, which is why the second baseman is now a Mariner.
The final gap was $60 million — $235 million that Cano wanted and the $175 million the Yankees were willing to do. So Cano left his legacy and a ballpark built for him to take the Mariners’ reported 10-year, $240 million offer.
The Yankees and the Cano camp had initial contact last offseason and got a bit more serious in spring training. The Yankees made an opening bid in the seven-year, $160 million range. In May, the Cano camp said it wanted 10 years at $310 million and that shut down talks until the offseason.
The Yankees climbed to $165 million after the season. Cano came back saying he wanted $28 million for nine years — $252 million – with a vesting option for a 10th year. When there was little further movement, the Yankees grew pessimistic the gulf could ever be closed. They were planning to be aggressive in the offseason anyway, but they decided they needed to sign players or else the prices would inflate further if Cano left and agents sensed the Yankees were desperate. Which is why they were so bold with Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury – and several others they have yet to sign.
The Yankees were made more pessimistic because Cano had let teammates and members of the organization know there would be no discount to stay, that he was going to the top bidder. Still, they wondered if that was rhetoric and if the door were still ajar and he would stick with his heart and stay with them rather than follow the money.
But earlier this week, the Cano camp told the Yankees they were willing to lower their request to $235 million and that the Yankees could split it over how many seasons they wanted: eight, nine or 10. The Yankees countered again, climbing to what they portrayed as their breaking point – seven years at $175 million. The sides were $60 million apart and both claiming they would go no further. At that point, the Cano camp fully engaged the Mariners.
“This is a not a surprise to us,” one Yankees official said. “This is what the dialogue had been the whole time. There was never a warm, fuzzy we are getting close momentum. There was no traction. This is why we have been trying to cushion the blow with alternatives [Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury, so far]. ”