The Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is one of the most storied in the history of sports. The two sides would do almost anything to make life more miserable for the other side. The Red Sox may have inadvertently hurt the Yankees and further helped themselves by signing all-star second baseman Dustin Pedroia to an 8-year contract extension that will pay him 110 million dollars through the year 2021.
The Yankees too, have a star second baseman in Robinson Cano whose contract expires at the end of the season. Pedroia, who no doubt is indispensable to the Sox and worth $108 million to them, has career numbers (1146H .303 BA, 96 HR, 467 RBI) that pale in comparison to Cano’s (1571H, .303 BA 198HR 784 RBI.) The two are both gold glove caliber fielders. Even though Cano has one more season under his belt than Pedroia, nobody in the business would argue that Cano is more valuable to his team at this point in his career.
At 30 years of age Cano is in the prime of his career and is getting his first real shot at free agency, and due to age and length of the contract he will command, it will likely be his last big one. In my opinion Cano will not take a hometown discount as many have speculated, especially with many suitors willing to pay the premium for arguably the best second baseman in the game.
Cano’s new representation, ROC Nation, run by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z is also getting its first real shot at a free agent contract. They will stop at nothing in my opinion, to land the biggest deal possible for their marquee client.
The list of suitors is long for Cano, and many teams have shown willingness to spend money in free agency. The Angels, Dodgers, Tigers, Nationals and Blue Jays have all shown that they have deep pockets that they are willing to dig deeply into for the top talent on the market. They also have a positional need for Cano. New contenders and teams with money coming off the books, such as the A’s, Orioles, Braves, Pirates and the Yankees crosstown rivals, the Mets, will also likely make a pitch to the slugging second baseman if he hits the open market.
Cano can most likely fetch a contract somewhere in the Pujols range (10 years 200+ million) and the question is after the A-Rod contract debacle will the Yankees be willing to pony-up that type of commitment? Only time will tell. As for now, the Sox have their man, and have given New York a lot to think about on theirs.
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Main Photo Credit: speedsterofbeantown.mlblogs.com, CC
