I feel like every article I write I start off the first paragraph with some novel dictation of where I was and what I was doing when said madness or epiphany occurred for my article. However with the massive deal of bringing Robinson Cano to Seattle for a groundbreaking deal in Major League Baseball, I won’t do it. I won’t tell you how I was sitting in the Veterinarian Hospital at an outrageous early hour when my twitter feed (@MindYourTaylors) exploded, and I gigged and wiggled out of my chair in the lounge like Quagmire at a Victoria Secret Show to tell every animal nurse about people they don’t know doing things they don’t understand. I won’t do it. Instead, let’s just get to the juice shall we?
The biggest free-agent signee of the winter meetings will be a Seattle Mariner for the price of $240 million dollars for 10 years.
The cash register was opened on Friday after rumors began to swirl in the middle of the week that there was a possibility Cano and his agent, the biggest rap mogul of all-time, Jay-Z were talking with the highly suspect Mariner owner Howard Lincoln. The kind of figures for the deal were unknown, chances were it was all fictitious anyways but if anything were to come to fruition it would be gargantuan in size. It didn’t seem possible for the Mariners to outbid the Yankees, let alone attract such a high profile player to the cellar of the league to play with the Dustin Ackleys and Justin Smoaks of the world.
Nevertheless, money trumped all notions of doubt.
It’s real. I’ve pinched myself and everyone around me several times; trust me this isn’t a dream. Robinson Cano is a Seattle Mariner for what is most likely the rest of his career.
So what now? What does it all really mean for our beloved Mariners? How should we feel?
It’s such an unbelievably important move for the sport of baseball this year that everyone has chimed in to give their opinion and try and explain how the heck this happened and what it means.
Bottom line what it means is that the Mariners aren’t going to muck around this year. Let’s be honest, this city is disinterested in baseball. The fan base has statistically deflated and had the most defeatist attitude for all the right reasons. In fact, the Mariners have had the biggest drop off in attendance of the past ten of any sport across the nation. With no names besides Felix Hernandez to give people a reason to jump back on board, this team was looking like it was going to tread water for eternity.
Not anymore though.
This kind of guy will fill the seats. Don’t even get me started about how amazing Safeco Field is too! It’s the best place to be during the summer in Seattle. With the skyline, the weather and the comforts of Safeco all that was really missing was the baseball team. Having Robinson Cano out on the field everyday makes the place a cash-cow waiting to be milked. People will be throwing up money, literally barfing George Washington’s to be at games with such an exciting player now playing in a Mariner uniform.
God forbid he helps win us a few of those games too, I mean who knows.
Some believe we over paid for Robinson Cano; we’re being robbed blind and will be burdened with paying him long after he is useful. Those people may be right but nobody was going to get a good deal for this man. Lots of teams wanted him. No matter who got him, they were going to over pay – it just happened to be the Mariners. As fans however, we demand immediate gratification and in that case, this deal makes sense.
He was the best player available no doubt.
But this is exactly what Seattle sports teams do isn’t it? Overpay for someone to under produce? Cano is 31, the same age as Albert Pujols was when he signed his 10-year, $240 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Angels two years ago. So far, Pujols has laid a big fat egg on the field for the Angels and not been worth nearly the money that was thrown at him. That may worry some people but shouldn’t be any real reason to fear Cano’s production because there have only been three deals in history that are this big meaning that for any legitimate argument that he will be a bust can’t really be justified due to small sample size to compare him with.
We can make an educated guess however on what his production will be. At Safeco Field, Robinson Cano has an OPS of .932 which ranks him as about elite as they come when it comes to slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
USA Today online has the American League East as three of the top nine parks for homers last season — Toronto (3rd), Baltimore (4th) and New York (9th) – while the AL West had four of the bottom 12 – Texas (yes, Texas was 19th), Anaheim (20th), Seattle (21st) and Oakland (25th). That may become a factor with the longevity of the season and how many times he will have to play at those West ballparks.
In addition, Cano is more than just a power hitter; his run production is what sets him apart from just about every other second baseman. He led the position in 2013 with 27 home runs and 107 RBI. In fact, last season's home run chart doesn't indicate that Safeco would have robbed Cano of any of his home runs.
That means that realistically due to his age, and insane production from the plate we have maybe a four or five year window to make a legit push to be a contender as Robinson Cano as the centerpiece.
With that in mind, he needs to be given the best chance to be successful. As much as an individual sport as baseball may seem, deep down it’s a sport that relies heavily on the contribution of many pieces. The Mariners must have a few other bats to protect Cano in the line-up. Without another major bat or two or three contact hitters to force pitchers to pitch to, the deal we just made for Cano is automatically a waste of time and money. Without additional bats, no one considers the Mariners even close to contending next year. Personally, that is why I’ve always been nervous about investing so much into one player because it often leaves little or no money left to build a supporting cast with.
That however isn’t the case with the Mariners.
They are strapped with cash and I guess it’s finally beginning to burn a whole in their pockets. With a new television deal with Root Sports worth hundreds of millions and a choosing not to spend much money the past five years leaves ample room to go after other clutch hitters. It even leaves open the possibility to trade some of our farm talent for proven hitters. Even though it’s risky to start making all types of deals for all sorts of players, we have already pulled the trigger on the riskiest part! In many of the past years we can say we have had the same opportunities but now that we have gone through with a huge deal, there is no reason to stop. Everyone available for hire should be considered by Jack Zduriencik to join the Mariners.
It’s a jumpstart that we aren’t going to keep building our farm system’ for some unknown messianic day of success. We want to compete as soon as possible!
Which brings me to my favorite part of analyzing the aftermath of Hurricane Cano – Seattle’s fortunes have been completely rewritten. It could possibly jumpstart the end of this rebuilding process. Now, everything stops, this thought of working from within and waiting another half-decade for players to develop has gone with the wind.
We are all-in and I love it.
It’s exciting. When was the last time you could say that about a Mariners team or player not named Felix Hernandez? Baseball in this town needs that! It’s like spicing up a dulling relationship – it could possibly save it all together. On top of that, Seattle is now an attractive place for players to consider taking their talents. We spent a boatload of money to get a bright and shiny recruitment tool. Names such as Shin-Soo Choo, Bartolo Colon and David Price have entered the rumor mill and more are sure to come.
It is far from the end of an already exciting off-season for the Mariners organization. Many pundits don’t like the decision and don’t understand it for the Mariners calling it a desperate move by a desperate front office. What those pundits from New York, Yahoo and ESPN and all those outside of the Emerald City don’t understand is that we are beyond desperate. Those pundits haven’t mentioned the Mariners in years and that’s no coincidence. We have been irrelevant. Desperate is an understatement. Desperate was what we called the 2008 season or maybe even the 2011 season. Now it’s time to pull in the life preservers and make a statement for the rest of the American League West and the league as a whole that we want to be competitive again. Not just be competitive in baseball but in the hearts of sports fans in Seattle who are all but on their last breath with this team. I commend the Mariners organization for thrusting the team back into the national picture it provides security for a fan base and tells us that they are actually trying to do something about the awful baseball we have lived with for the past few years.
As a fan I’m telling you now, stay close to your dials, whatever else is bound to come through the grapevine next is going to continue to amaze.
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