Offseason Profiler: Robinson Cano

As we inch closer to the annual Winter Meetings, the baseball offseason really kicks into high gear, and this year's winter could be quite captivating.

Heading into this holiday season, we know a lot of things. The most obvious being Robinson Cano highlights a pretty underrated class of free agents. A lot of teams have a lot of money to spend this year, E.g. the Mets, Cubs, Mariners, and Rangers amongst others. The pitching market this year is incredibly deep. The outfield market is aging but still very much solid. And the middle infield, or the infield market in general is rather slim.

I'm glad the winter meetings are a few weeks out still because I have a lot of hypotheses on what we could be in store for this winter. I'm not going to divulge all of them in one sitting, that would just be too much, so today I'm starting with Robinson Cano.

Cano's representative is, Roc Nation Sports, Jay-Z's firm. At this point in time, their biggest client is Cano. But his agency has also landed NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who will soon hit NBA free agency.

It surfaced early this morning the Mets were summoned by Jay-Z to talk Cano. By sounds of it make it, the Mets were more interested in feeling out how Roc Nation would do business, whereas Roc Nation was trying to pitch Cano to the Mets.

Here's the deal, as a Mets fan, Cano is an exciting possibility, for about three or four years. In that ball park though, once Cano hits 35 or 36(he's 31), his power numbers are going to drop. His defense is already based purely on ability, but as he ages, his range will surely decrease and easy routine plays for him will become, well base hits given up by the likes of Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, and the list can go on. He might be able to maintain a high batting average and on-base percentage, but his baserunning is already suspect, and with aging knees and joints, he will just become a log-jam on the bases if the Mets were to have any speed behind him in the line-up.

Like I said, Cano is an exciting possibility, but realistically, he's a flashing red lights sign that says "STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY!"

My take on why the Roc Nation camp called the Mets: The Mets have money to spend, and Cano has no takers except the Yankees. Simple. Roc Nation is trying to drum up suitors to match their ridiculous asking price, and ridiculous is being polite at this point, 10-years at $350-million and give the Yankees a tangible sense there are in fact, other teams interested in Cano's services.

This is unfortunate because right now, Cano is one of the most dynamic hitters in baseball. He hits a high average, he hits a lot of homers, and he drives in a lot of runs. The more impressive part about all this is, he did it in a poor Yankee line-up last year. Mark Teixiera, Curtis Granderson and A-Rod were all out for a majority of the season, and Cano was still able to drive in 107 runs.

So to say Cano isn't work the $350-million isn't outrageous, but it's also not fair. The biggest red flags right now are the fact Cano is reaching free agency for the first time at age 31. That is the biggest thing keeping someone from opening up their check book.

We all know the Dodgers would be courting Roc Nation and Cano if they hadn't just spent $28-million on Cuban defector Alexander Guererro. So the high paying Dodgers are all but out. I've seen reports of Texas kicking the tires on Cano. To me that's certainly a fit financially, but then they make an already chaotic and problematic situation in their middle-infield worse.

I've heard at least three baseball insiders say each year you hear about high-priced free agents as not having a market, and then they go to another team. But truly in this situation, Robinson Cano will begin, what I believe will be, a trend of aging, high-priced free agents that become less appealing and fewer teams willing to take on the big contract demands by agents like Roc Nation Sports or Scott Boras. We've seen the likes of Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and Carl Crawford make big money because of what they've done, instead of what they will be able to contribute. I truly believe with cap penalties and international budget constrains coming because of overspending, fewer and fewer teams willing to give a 31 year-old star a 10-year contract.

Now that doesn't mean the Robinson Cano's of the baseball world won't be able to make a buck. If I had a guess, if Roc Nation lowered their asking price to five years at say $150 to $200-million, you'd have the Rangers, Mets, Cubs, and even the Dodgers lining up to take him on. That's not unreasonable for a guy that has at least two or three MVP years left in the tank, then you can afford the two years where the numbers decline, but you still have the fear of those MVP years in the back of a pitchers mind.

In the end, Cano won't get $350-million at 10-years. He's likely going to get a little bit more than Dustin Pedroia, but the contract length will likely be similar. I see an 6-8 year deal, probably in the $175-million range. And yes, Cano is worth every bit of that to the Yankees.

The fact of the matter is, the Yankees need Cano in a desperate way. Granderson is headed elsewhere. Teixiera gets older by the year, and that wrist injury is going to effect his numbers and effectiveness with the bat. Who knows if A-rod will be available. Any outfielder they add won't be a suitable replacement for Cano. The pitching is in disarray. The farm system is crap.

Cano means more to the Yankees than any other team can try to monetarily exemplify. The Yankees say they will let him walk (which I think is a load of garbage), but if they do, you won't be seeing the Yankees competing at a high level anytime soon.

As a lot of New York media people believe, the Yankees will resign Cano for the simple reason, Boston just won the World Series, and they have to as they say, "Keep up with the Jones'".