The Robinson Cano experiment will go down in Mets’ historical past as a colossal failure.
Money apart, in Cano’s days with the Mets, he was by no means the participant he was in Seattle and was nowhere near the top-flight hitter and defender he was for the Yankees. That was simply when he was on the sector, and the suspension that terminated his total 2021 season made the blockbuster commerce even more durable to abdomen. Cano, an unquestionably nice participant at his peak, wasn’t serving to a lot when he was within the lineup and definitely wasn’t contributing whereas sitting out an entire yr.
Because of all of this, Cano’s latest designation for project made good sense from a baseball standpoint, even when the monetary ramifications and Cano’s All-Star pedigree made the transfer a tinge stunning.
Two issues are true now: Cano shouldn’t be taking part in one other sport for the Mets, and different groups are no less than going to do their due diligence on him. Every workforce within the league will get to make use of a delegated hitter now — opening up rather more potentialities for Cano — and different golf equipment have taken fliers on guys like Albert Pujols, Steven Vogt and ex-Met Jed Lowrie this yr, who’re both older than or similarly-aged to Cano and never being relied on for enormous offensive numbers anymore.
The intangibles might be an vital issue for any membership that’s evaluating Cano, however there are additionally just a few that might use a left-handed hitter that may nonetheless play a satisfactory second base in emergencies. Mets followers may also take some solace in the truth that Jarred Kelenic, the uber prospect that ex-general supervisor Brodie Van Wagenen parted with within the Cano commerce, has been even worse than Cano in a number of statistical classes this yr.
Of course, one is a 39-year-old on his means out and the opposite has performed lower than 162 MLB video games, however the early returns on Kelenic make the transfer rather more palatable in the intervening time, particularly with Edwin Diaz greater than holding up his finish of the deal.
As the baseball world awaits his subsequent transfer, there are some groups that will make a little bit of sense for Cano on paper. It’s not that straightforward, although.
When a participant is designated for project, they’ve seven days to both be traded or positioned on outright waivers. Nobody goes to present one thing up in a commerce to accumulate this model of Cano. If a workforce claims him off waivers, additionally they are answerable for the remaining cash left on that participant’s contract. With Cano, that’d be monetary malpractice.
This implies that, ought to Cano clear waivers as anticipated, he’ll grow to be a free agent. But, as a result of he has greater than 5 years of MLB service time, Cano remains to be owed the assured cash remaining on his contract. That implies that any workforce who desires to take an opportunity on the difficult slugger has to cowl the remainder of the cash he’s owed this yr, in addition to the $24 million for 2023.
Therein lies the rub. Players like Pujols, Vogt and Lowrie hit open free company, which allowed the groups that signed them to present them a contract rather more reflective of their present worth. None of these three signed for multiple yr or $2.5 million, a minuscule sliver of what Cano can be owed by the 2023 marketing campaign.
Essentially, any workforce that wishes to attempt their hand at fixing Cano must pay an exorbitant charge that frankly wouldn’t make any sense by any means. Nobody goes to eat that a lot money for a participant who supplies so little on the sector at this level. The different drawback with Cano throughout his temporary time with the 2022 Mets was that in an effort to show his value, he wanted to be taking part in on daily basis. This created the conundrum of the workforce both having to run Cano on the market 5 instances every week and letting him get his groove again in actual video games that matter, or go away him on the pine as essentially the most handsomely paid bench decoration this aspect of Ben Simmons.
A workforce just like the Toronto Blue Jays — unapologetically making an attempt to win now, quick on left-handed bats, no immutable choices presently entrenched at DH or second base — would have been essentially the most logical match. But that contract that Cano signed with the Mariners almost ten years in the past nonetheless looms unbelievably giant.
The domino results of that deal (which the Mariners negotiated with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports company, a bunch that now contains Van Wagenen, who’s Cano’s agent once more), are fascinating. Had former Mariner GM Jack Zduriencik not gone so excessive on the greenback quantity, his successor Jerry Dipoto wouldn’t have been so determined to maneuver Cano in the course of the preliminary phases of the Mariners’ rebuild. Had Van Wagenen by no means gotten the Mets’ GM job, the workforce nearly actually doesn’t comply with the 2018 commerce that compelled them to tackle Cano’s remaining wage.
At the identical time, if there was no commerce, there’d be no Diaz, who might very properly be the man closing out video games that clinch a postseason berth or win a possible playoff collection. If the Mets don’t commerce for Cano they could additionally by no means have gotten Starling Marte, one other essential piece of the present puzzle who overtly stated that he has relationship with Cano and all the time wished to be his teammate.
The ins and outs of this example might make anybody’s head spin. But DFA’ing Cano additionally introduced some readability, finality and customary sense to the Mets, a workforce that might make everybody rapidly overlook about this miniature saga in the event that they parlay their robust begin into a robust season.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com