It's long been thought that Robinson Cano has been asking for a 10-year, $310 million contract and the Yankees have been waiting for his price to drop significantly. Now it seems that those numbers have not been accurate for six months now, as that was the contract Cano wanted in return for avoiding free agency. Now that he's on the open market, his agents, Jay-Z and Brodie Van Wagenen have never asked for anything in the $300 million contract.
When the two sides met earlier this week, a source says that Cano named his price at $250-$260 million over nine years. The Yankees countered with a seven-year, $160-$175 million deal in return, which would still make the All-Star second baseman one of the highest paid players in baseball. The two sides are still $100 million apart.
While Cano was never going to get a $300 million, it's good to see that he's not so deluded to think that he could. Free agency is a negotiation process and it seemed like Cano and Roc Nation weren't going to buy into any of that, they had their demands and they needed to be met. A $250-$260 million contract is much better to work with, however it is still highly unlikely he gets a deal that lucrative. Cano's new deal would give him an AAV of $27-$28 million, which is still one of the most expensive contracts in baseball. The Yankees' seven-year contract would give him an AAV of $22-$25 million, which is a lot more realistic. I still believe he will end up with an eight-year, $200 million contract that will give him the same $25 million AAV.
