The unthinkable has happened, free agent Robinson Cano has signed on to be the starting second baseman for the Seattle Mariners at the rate of a 10-year deal worth $240 million.
Cano and his agent, rap icon/mogul Jay-Z, have originally wanted a 10-year $252 million deal, but Mariners’ General Manager Jack Zduriencik was able to negotiate the price down to roughly $1 million less per season.
It’s truly an interesting deal for a number of reasons, the first of which is that it ties the same deal that Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols received prior to the 2012 season, with the major differences being that position they play and that Cano is one year and three months younger than when Pujols signed.
Talent-wise the deal does make some kind of sense, mostly for the sake that the market was clearly wide open to make it happen; however, there’s more to it than that.
Historically the second base position has an afterthought for most teams, but especially for the Mariners. Of the 25 highest paid players in 2013 not a single one of them was a second baseman. The closest any second baseman came was at #41 who made $15 million. That player, Cano for the New York Yankees. The next closest was Dan Uggla of the Atlanta Braves.
The Mariners spent roughly $3.4 million between Robert Andino, Dustin Ackley and Nick Franklin. Another salary stat by position to look at is salary progression throughout one’s career. Of the top contracts and contract extensions only one second baseman made the list, Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg when he signed a four-year $28.4 million extension which would translate roughly into $11.8 million person today.
This isn’t to say that second baseman don’t generally make a lot of money; in fact, Ian Kinsler and Chase Utley are both going to pull down $15 million or more over the next few years, but neither of them nor Uggla have the resume that Cano does. In nine seasons Cano is hitting a solid .309/.383/.516 with 204 home runs and 822 RBI. He has yet to strike out over 100 times in a season, he has two Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards, five All-Star Game appearances and he has finished in the top-six in the American League MVP vote the last four years.
In Sandberg’s first nine seasons he hit .288 with 179 home runs and 649 RBI, made the All-Star team seven times, won the Gold Glove Award eight time, Silver Slugger Award five times and the National League MVP once in 1984. Utley and Kinsler don’t even come close and Uggla has more home runs in eight years at 231.
The deal is not a total knock on the Mariners; after all, Cano is hitting .326 with 31 home runs and 131 RBI lifetime against his four new AL West opponents. It’s just that the track record the Mariners have produced when they spend money on talent doesn’t exactly result in wins.
Chone Figgins, for example, cleaned up handsomely with a four-year $35 million contract, $8 million of which he made in 2013 to not be a part of the team. Adrian Beltre signed a five-year $64 million deal prior to the 2005 seasons. Both of those players struggle to produce consistently during their tenure. Even players that Zduriencik acquired through trades (Franklin Gutierrez, Jason Vargas, Endy Chavez and Mike Carp) have found themselves in greener pastures than the ones they grazed in Seattle.
Only once under Zduriencik have the Mariners had a natural second baseman on their roster, Jose Lopez who made just over $5 million in 2009-2010, but played third base as an unnatural Figgins was placed at second. Prior to that, the Mariners last shelled out $9 million to Brett Boone in 2005 before they sent him to the Minnesota Twins before the season ended.
As it stands, this is really hard to say whether the Mariners have won or lost. History is clearly battling against them, but Cano’s talent gives them a boost. It’s just odd that Mariners would pull the trigger after Franklin, one of the best prospects, had a decent season with a lot of promise in 2013. Something else must be upcoming.