INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The Yankees have immediate, vital issues to address, such as retaining Hiroki Kuroda or finding a suitable alternative (good luck with that), replacing Nick Swisher in right, and reaching one-year pacts that bring Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera comfortably back.
But their largest big-picture issue remains the same as when their season concluded: What to do with Robinson Cano, a free agent after next season. And already you can hear the faint thump of war drums as two sides dig into their positions.
On one side is a team that wants to retain its best player long term, but do so with an eye on staying under the $189 million luxury tax threshold in 2014 while also avoiding the kind of mega-commitment that has gone rancid with Alex Rodriguez.
On the other side is a player who hired Scott Boras with an eye on maximizing his worth. I reported last month Cano was telling teammates he is expecting a 10-year contract at the top of the market. Now, a confidant of Cano informs me the second baseman thinks he has taken a discount once to sign long term with the Yankees and will not do so again.
Before the 2008 campaign, Cano signed what became a six-year, $57 million contract once two option seasons were picked up. That final option is for $15 million in 2013 after which he is a free agent. Cano would have been a free agent after the 2011 season without signing that pact.
Boras said in the past week he has spoken to both Yankees president Randy Levine and general manager Brian Cashman, but his strong inclination is Cano will play out this contract before any serious negotiations with the Yankees ensue.
Boras’ rhetoric is already being honed. He is not going to lower his asking price based on a Yankees objective to go under the $189 million threshold; a tactic he has made publicly clear he feels is wrongheaded for a franchise he believes should use its financial advantages to the fullest.
Boras also has pointed out that franchise values and coffers have swelled as income streams have soared. His message is the contracts of the best players should climb equally.
You can guarantee Boras will say that a superb two-way middle infielder such as Cano should be paid more than first basemen such as Prince Fielder (nine years, $214 million) and Joey Votto (10 years, $225 million).
For now those war drums are faint. You can expect them to grow louder and louder.
* Justin Upton is loaded with talent, still just 25 and working on a reasonable contract. Yet, his performance has not always honored his skill level, which is tempering the market for the very available outfielder. Arizona wants a high-end left-side-of-the-infield piece in return.
However, a person involved in the negotiations told me Texas is no longer the frontrunner because it would not include either of its talented shortstops, Elvis Andrus or Jurickson Profar. Detroit (with third base prospect Nick Castellanos) and Tampa (with deep pitching possibilities) are also in the hunt.
Texas has so many positional free agents coming up this offseason (Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli) and next (Michael Young, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy) that it wants to hold its most talented youngsters such as Andrus and Profar.
* The Brewers and Orioles come up most often when asked for likely landing places for Hamilton. The Orioles have considered a scenario in which they put Hamilton in right and move Nick Markakis to first, where they think Markakis, an outstanding outfield defender, would be equally adept.
Tino flirts with Sawx, but Marlins reel him in as coach
The Yankees gave permission for special assistant Tino Martinez to talk to the Red Sox and Marlins, and Miami yesterday hired him as hitting coach.
“His hitting philosophy is the same as ours,” Cashman said. “He learned under Lou Piniella [in Seattle]. Combine the fact that he’s a great player with that type of experience, and he’s got a tremendous amount to offer.”
* Walt Weiss was hired as Rockies manager, but perhaps more interesting was Jason Giambi’s presence among the four finalists. Giambi has not just steroids in his background, but a reputation from his younger days — including with the Yankees — of being a player as friendly with Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker as his teammates.
“The Jason I know now is nothing like the Jason I have heard about,” Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd said. “He took all the issues of his past and put the direction of his life in a different way. For me, the Jason I know has a baseball IQ off the charts. He is articulate, personable, a leader. He is 41 years old now, and not a kid.”
Colorado has asked Giambi to be its hitting coach under Weiss.
* Neither the Mets nor Yankees — both in need of outfield help — has yet to express interest in Melky Cabrera. At least five teams have.
* The Cardinals say they would not consider trading Carlos Beltran, who is due $13 million in 2013, despite troublesome knees that make him more problematic as an outfielder only in the DH-less NL. Beltran would have seemed an ideal fit to replace fellow switch-hitter Nick Swisher, who almost certainly will leave the Yankees via free agency.
* Indians officials do not see a fit with the Yankees on right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, another possible Swisher replacement.
* MLB Senior VP Peter Woodfork said the sport is moving forward with more emphasis and experiments on a Kevlar insert that would go into the cap of pitchers to protect them from hard drives back to the mound.