MLB

Cano agrees to mega deal with Mariners

Gone Robbie Gone.

When Robinson Cano bolted for Seattle and a seductive 10-year deal worth $240 million Friday morning, he joined a fraternity of productive Yankees players who have vanished from The Bronx since the end of a very disappointing 2013 season.

Yankees icons Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte retired. Alex Rodriguez could be suspended for all of 2014 and part of 2015. Curtis Granderson moved to Queens. Phil Hughes, once considered a front-of-the-rotation starter, is in Minnesota. Joba Chamberlain, believed to Rivera’s successor in 2007, is looking for work as a free agent.

Now, one of MLB’s top 10 players — and easily the Yankees’ best — has vanished. Time will tell if the Yankees can turn the money they saved by not giving in to Cano’s demand for $235 million split over eight, nine or 10 years into enough talent to offset the departure of the five-time All-Star.

“It’s a tough loss for us,’’ David Robertson, Rivera’s possible replacement at closer, said Friday in a phone interview from Alabama. “But Robbie did what was best for Robbie. He got a better offer, so I can see how he left.’’

Cano bolting for the woeful Mariners didn’t shock the Yankees. They increased the effort to sign free-agent center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury knowing Cano wasn’t coming back. Ellsbury agreed to a seven-year, $153 million deal that bothered Cano, according to a person who knows him, because of the Yankees’ $175 million offer.

Part of the Yankees’ organization since 2001 and a fixture at second base since 2005, known for durability and a sweet left-handed swing made for Yankee Stadium, Cano didn’t call the Yankees to give them a chance to top the stunning Mariners deal.

According to three people who know Cano, he didn’t enjoy playing for manager Joe Girardi and that may have factored into the decision, though the Mariners giving him $60 million more than the Yankees offered ($175 million) likely had more to do with him leaving.

“Robbie didn’t like batting second, he wanted to bat in the middle of the order,’’ one person said. “The Yankees wanted him second because that was best for the team. He wanted to hit in the middle of the order to drive in runs [to increase his value].’’

Through the middle of June, Cano shuttled between second and third in a lineup that didn’t have Derek Jeter to hit second or Rodriguez in the cleanup spot.

For the season, Cano batted third in 110 games, hitting .319 with 16 homers, 73 RBIs and an OPS of .886. As the No. 2 hitter in 42 games, he hit .308 with 10 homers, 30 RBIs and a .955 OPS.

“He told me he didn’t want to play for [Girardi],’’ a friend of Cano’s said.

Having played in The Bronx and Seattle, Goose Gossage predicts Cano will have to deal with a big change.

“As far as they are away in miles, they are just as far apart culturally,’’ Gossage said during a break from a goose hunt in eastern Colorado. “I loved Seattle, it’s a great city, but it’s miles apart in atmosphere and it’s totally different. I loved Seattle, but New York is New York. Seattle is very laid back.’’

The Yankees remain engaged with free-agent second baseman Omar Infante and have agreed to a deal with utility player Kelly Johnson. The Reds have had interest in Brett Gardner for two years and might be looking to deal second baseman Brandon Phillips, though the Yankees are lukewarm at best to that possibility.

Come Opening Day, somebody will be at second base for the Yankees. But it won’t be Cano, who joined the parade leaving The Bronx. Unlike the others, however, he left for what is tied for the third highest contract in the history of baseball and a whole lot more money than the Yankees were willing to deliver.