Robinson Cano has begun the next stage of his professional life, a rookie free agent at 31. You bet on him winding up back with the Yankees, although the baseball industry is so flush with cash you wonder whether some enthusiastic owner will take a $250-ish million plunge.
At this early stage, here’s what we know for certain: In order for Cano to approach his original asking price of $310 million? He’s going to have to hustle.
You don’t get the sort of financial package Cano wants without selling yourself as more than just a great ballplayer. You have to be a team leader. A community pillar. A face of the franchise.
They’re the sort of roles Cano never has played fully on the star-studded Yankees.
“He wants to be a free agent,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Thursday. “So now he gets to go out into the marketplace.”
No hidden messages there: By accruing the proper service time and playing out his contract, Cano has earned the right to do this. By establishing himself as the game’s best second baseman, he will get a huge contract. We’re debating only the degree of hugeness.
Though the Yankees will stay engaged with Cano’s representation — a unique combination of CAA’s Brodie Van Wagenen and Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports — they fully expect this process to take some time, and for Cano to see what’s out there (build up leverage, in other words) before resuming serious discussions with his original team. There’s no other club openly clamoring for Cano’s services, as sometimes occurs this time of year (think the Yankees and CC Sabathia, or the Marlins and Jose Reyes), but that can change quickly. We mention the usual suspects such as the Dodgers, Nationals, Rangers and Tigers no matter how strenuously they shoot it down, because we are talking about an elite player.
We don’t know yet how the presence of Jay Z, in his first foray as a sports agent, will impact the proceedings. Nevertheless, even Jay Z can’t reinvent the wheel. A baseball team isn’t going to spend this sort of money on one player without: 1) significant ownership involvement, and 2) the team buying into the person as well as the player.
Which brings us back to the “hustle” crack from the second paragraph. Yup, you know Cano often doesn’t bust his keister down the first-base line, and maybe you’re one of the fans he infuriates with his inaction. However, the Yankees very much want to bring back Cano because his dedication and effort express themselves in other, more important ways. Like the fact he has played in at least 159 games every season since 2007. Or that he enjoys providing guidance to younger Latino players, in particular, just as Alex Rodriguez has done to him.
Having written this, there’s no getting around the reality that playing for the Yankees, in the shadow of larger-than-life figures like A-Rod, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, has given Cano room for error. He isn’t looked upon as a virtual captain, because Jeter has been the actual captain and Rivera his de facto deputy (and even A-Rod sometimes helped). Though Cano always has been agreeable with and approachable to the media, he never has been regarded as a team spokesman.
There’s every indication Cano is ready to assume more responsibility on those fronts now that Rivera is retired, Jeter is near the end and A-Rod’s future tied up in multiple courts. For other clubs, though, there isn’t the track record on which to act.
Cano surely has some face-to-face meetings in his future at which he’ll need to work the room. Turn on that charm we know he has. Hustle to prove he’s worthy of a mammoth investment.
On the field, he often makes the game look easy. Can he thrive as effortlessly off the field? We’ll find out. The only downside is these activities won’t be televised.