Brian Cashman didn’t sound like a general manager who expects his best player back.
Speaking Monday night about free agent second baseman Robinson Cano returning to The Bronx, Cashman didn’t paint a positive picture.
“I don’t know, I can’t predict,’’ Cashman said before speaking about civility in baseball at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. “We sincerely wanted to have him and would like to have him. But he is in a position where he will have opportunities and choices.’’
One opportunity, and possibly the only one, is with the Yankees, but the sides are far apart.
Last Tuesday in a face-to-face meeting with club president Randy Levine and Cashman, Cano’s agents — Brodie Van Wagenen and Juan Perez — requested a nine-year deal for between $250 and $260 million and a vesting option in the area of $30 million for the 10th year. The Yankees stuck to their original seven-year offer for about $160 million. Mega entertainment star Jay Z, another of Cano’s agents, was not part of the meeting.
Cashman admitted he doesn’t know what the 31-year-old Cano is going to do.
“It could be for more money, it could be for less money and that’s true for any free agent,’’ Cashman said. “They can control their destiny and prioritize what is most important to them.’’
Cashman used the word “wanted’’ early in the talk about Cano. Later in the conversation, he used the past tense for a second time.
“We have had an amazing run with Robbie Cano and we would like to extend, but there is no guarantee,” said Cashman, whose goal is to get the 2014 payroll under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold. “We have offers out there and I’m operating where I have made offers to multiple other players. We have only so much we are going to spend in the market place.
“We’re going to focus on those who gravitate closest to us or try and get a deal done with us. We hope Robbie is part of that process, too, and we will stay engaged with him, but we seem to be more engaged with others right now.’’
The Yankees have contacted Omar Infante, considered the second-best free-agent second baseman.
The wild card in the Cano situation is Seattle, which industry sources believe is looking to make a huge splash to jump-start a franchise on the skids. Other than the Mariners, barely a word has been spoken linking Cano to another club.
Second base isn’t the only Yankees hole. After CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova, they need three starters.
The Yankees have had a one-year offer to Hiroki Kuroda on the table for a while and worth more than the $15 million he made last year, when he went 11-13 with a 3.31 ERA but faltered in the final six weeks. He went 0-6 with a 6.56 ERA in his final eight starts due to fatigue.
“We would love to have Hiroki Kuroda back, I need starting pitching and he has been a tremendous pitcher for us,’’ Cashman said of the right-hander who will be 39 in February and is believed to be deciding between pitching for the Yankees, pitching in Japan or retiring. “We have made Hiroki Kuroda an offer and we are waiting to hear if he would like to come back.’’