Today is a sad day for me as an ardent fan of the New York Yankees.
Robinson Cano and the Seattle Mariners have agreed to sign a 10-year, $240 million contract. Meanwhile, my Yankees decided to give Jacoby Ellsbury $153 million over seven years.
Did I think my Yanks over-paid for Ellsbury? Hell yes I do.
Did I think my Yanks were right in not overpaying for Cano? Hell yes I do.
There was no way in hell the Yankees would have given 10 years to Cano for this simple reason: dude is 30 years old. Would you justify paying 40-year-old $24 million? I didn’t think so, but apparently the Mariners do. The only 40-year-old I have seen excel as a batter was Barry Bonds (no need to ask the steroid questions anymore).
And yes, I understand that you cannot simply let a guy who played in almost every game last season (Cano played in 160 games), batted .314 (lifetime .309), 27 home runs and 107 RBIs walk. And yes, Cano was by far the straw that stirred the drink on offense. And yes, Cano is in his prime and will probably stay in this run for a while.
Just not at 40 years old.
I believe the Yanks are still smarting over giving Alex Rodriguez that ridiculous 10-year, $275 contract extension a few years back – especially when they were bidding against themselves. It’s too bad they wised up in one area (Cano) while taking a step back in overpaying for an oft-injured – but good – player (Ellsbury).
I’ll say this: I just wished the Yanks and Cano (and Jay-Z) had come to terms on a seven- or eight-year contract.
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