Talking Robby Cano Meeting Blues

[Edgy MD]

The reports of Cano's people meeting with the Mets brass is a great vehicle for third-rate standup.

"Reports say the Mets just wanted to ask him to, you know, pal around with Jordany a little. Make him feel a part of things. Buying friends for Valdespin has got to be in their budget."

"Yeah?! I heard Jay-Z bailed on the Mets meeting and sent Lil' Jon instead."

Twitter folkz must be having a ball. I'm afraid to look.

[MFS62]

Meeting?
Maybe they just wanted to borrow some money.*

Later

* = I'm not sure if that's a punch line or the truth.

[Edgy MD]

What I'm saying.

[metirish]

Davidoff had this too....his people asked to meet with the Mets... Jay Z was in toe....but as noted in the article they already looked for ten years $310 million from the MFY's so...but hey if things go pear shaped with the MFY's you never know what price he can be got at.

I dislike him now but of course that is subject to change.

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm hoping this is just the Wilpons playing 'poke a stick in their eye' with the Yankees. They should under no circumstances be serious players for Cano.

[Edgy MD]

What Cano has asked for isn't really the most relevant data. What matters is the the $160 million over seven years that the Yankees have offered.

I'm not advocating, but there are worse people to throw that kind of munny at.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: What Cano has asked for isn't really the most relevant data. What matters is the the $160 million over seven years that the Yankees have offered. I'm not advocating, but there are worse people to throw that kind of munny at.

seems like second baseman go down hill fast, but Cano's sorta really good and all.

$160 over 7 seems too long, but hell, even if this just pushes up the price for the Yankees..

Did the Yankees actually offer that, or is that the "rumored guess at what they think he's worth leaked by 'official with knowledge'"?

[MFS62]

Lefty Specialist wrote: I'm hoping this is just the Wilpons playing 'poke a stick in their eye' with the Yankees. They should under no circumstances be serious players for Cano.

JayZ will know they're serious if they picked up the tab.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

I had posted this in another thread, but in the interest of keeping all the Cano stuff together, here it is again:

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I can't see any way that this is gonna happen. Ken Davidoff, New York Post wrote: Changing his stripes? Mets, Jay Z hold secret meeting about Cano Robinson Cano a Met? It sounds outlandish on the surface, but Cano put his best man on the job Monday night. Yes, it turns out Jay Z is as hands-on as promised. So hands-on he�s willing to shop his client across the RFK Bridge into Flushing. The hip-hop impresario joined Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson and assistant general manager John Ricco for dinner at a posh Manhattan hotel to discuss Cano�s free agency, two sources familiar with the situation told The Post. Cano�s group, which also featured agents Brodie Van Wagenen and Juan Perez, initiated the meeting; Cano himself didn�t attend. Alderson went on record last week to say he couldn�t envision the Mets taking on another player with a nine-figure contract to join David Wright, and Cano sure as heck wants nine figures. He asked the Yankees for a 10-year, $310 million contract, and the Yankees countered with a seven-year offer for between $161 and $168 million. The Yankees have not held extensive talks with Cano�s representatives since free agency began, and they�re unlikely to be unnerved by this meeting, given the Mets� stated salary-commitment intentions and their payroll-slashing of the last three years. The Mets have a capable second baseman in Daniel Murphy, but it isn�t the presence of Murphy that would block Cano; Murphy could be traded. Rather, it�s Cano�s demands and desires, not to mention his love of the Yankees, that make this a shaky bet. So Cano going to the Mets remains a distinct long shot. The Mets simply had little to lose by agreeing to this meeting. And Jay Z, a rookie sports representative, could test out his pitch on a club that is ultimately unlikely to land his client. Jay Z has made it clear his representation of Cano is about marketing as well as baseball, and staying in New York with the Mets would afford Cano the many marketing opportunities the Big Apple offers. Of course, the Yankees remain the city�s top baseball team even after missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, and Cano�s brand-expansion potential � both short-term, given the Yankees� pursuit of big-name free agents and long-term, given the benefits of a career spent exclusively in the Bronx � looms considerably larger by sticking with the Yankees. While Cano ranks as the undisputed top free agent of this Hot Stove season, his precise market has been a mystery. Natural-fitting, high-spending clubs like Detroit, Texas (which could trade from its middle-infield depth for starting pitching) and Washington have yet to proclaim themselves as interested. It�s possible, as The Post�s Joel Sherman suggested last week, Cano might have to wait for his fellow top free agents Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury to sign contracts so the suitors for Cano become more clear. The operations of Cano�s agent, too, have been a mystery, given Jay Z�s immense celebrity. However, Jay Z�s group Roc Nation Sports and its partner CAA, which employs Van Wagenen, have been adamant Jay Z was more than a figurehead. Jay Z has been very active behind the scenes and figures to be more in front now that it�s time to pitch his first and only baseball client.

[Edgy MD]

Jon Heyman wrote: The Yankees' offer of several weeks ago is believed to have been for about $160 million over seven years, perhaps slightly more than that. Cano's $310 million request is over 10 years.

Passive voice and all, but probably credible. These things get out. Usually accurately.

[MFS62]

However, Jay Z�s group Roc Nation Sports and its partner CAA, which employs Van Wagenen, have been adamant Jay Z was more than a figurehead. Jay Z has been very active behind the scenes and figures to be more in front now that it�s time to pitch his first and only baseball client.

If the group looks to be significant players in the future, the meeting was not necessarily a bad thing, whether Cano was discussed or not.

Later

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Jon Heyman wrote: The Yankees' offer of several weeks ago is believed to have been for about $160 million over seven years, perhaps slightly more than that. Cano's $310 million request is over 10 years. Passive voice and all, but probably credible. These things get out. Usually accurately.

hmm. Well, hypothetically I might sign him at 160/7, maybe a little less, but I'm not sure I get into a bidding war over him. now, if said 7th year is an option year..

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think the Mets would be foolish not to take this meeting, and Cano's people even bigger idiots if they don't ask for it.

[Lefty Specialist]

Just one thing....he won't be getting #24.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He's no Kelvin Torve, I guess.

[Ceetar]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Just one thing....he won't be getting #24.

he should.

He'll probably go 22, the number he had before he switched for OMG ROGER CLEMENS IS IN GEORGE STEINBRENNER'S BOX

[Ceetar]

gonna tweet that. Maybe it'll stir something up.

[Farmer Ted]

The meeting was so secret the media was camped outside the restaurant before the WilThongs arrived.

Keepin' it classy, Jay Z.

[Lefty Specialist]

Coulda been Jay-H.

[G-Fafif]

The hip-hop impresario joined Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson and assistant general manager John Ricco for dinner at a posh Manhattan hotel to discuss Cano�s free agency, two sources familiar with the situation told The Post.

This is why tabloids are tabloids. Wouldn't have occurred to me to specify whether the hotel was posh, ritzy or hoity-toity. I would've assumed it wasn't a Days Inn. But now, thanks to that description, I'm at full froth!

[metirish]

Ah, Jeff meeting clients in posh hotels, reminds one of his video montage sales pitch to Glavine.

[ashie62]

Lets Go Mets!!!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Think he'd accept a stadium parking lot tent in lieu of $300 million?

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Are the MFYs essentially bidding against themselves again? Which of the other huge spenders would be in on this?

The Angels must be tapped out after the Pojols/Hamilton deals, the Dogers already took on all kinds of stupid salaries, the BoSox have Pedroia at second. The Marlins are back in cheapskate mode. Baltimore?

Is there a chance that we could steal him in a shorter deal? Or will the MFYs, after hearing about "mystery teams" for most of the winter, give him what he wants?

[metirish]

I doubt the Mets will steal him with Alderson's stated intention of not doling out a $100 million contract .....of course for a player like him that would need to change...it would be some steal though.

[Edgy MD]

The thing is, from the agents' point of view, they just drove up the Yankees' likely offer by a few mill just by spending a few hundred dollars on dinner.

I wonder what makes for more snark: the Mets' management not actively moving to improve the team, or the Mets' management actively moving to improve the team?

[MFS62]

I'm getting a Robbie Alomar flashback, although Robbie was a little older when he came to the Mets.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I guess the Wild Card is the question of whether Cano's agents even know what they're doing.

Just based on my own (biased, possibly very wrong) point of view, Cano is a user who just hasn't been caught yet, and isn't a great teammate.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I guess the Wild Card is the question of whether Cano's agents even know what they're doing. Just based on my own (biased, possibly very wrong) point of view, Cano is a user who just hasn't been caught yet, and isn't a great teammate.

That would be his double play partner!

[Edgy MD]

MFS62 wrote: I'm getting a Robbie Alomar flashback, although Robbie was a little older when he came to the Mets. Later

And Cano hasn't come to the Mets, and Alomar wasn't a free agent, and there was no dramatic coverage over the acquisition. It just happened one day.

Any big ticket can be compared to any other big ticket that didn't work out. The only lesson you can take from that sort of thinking, though, is not to get up in the morning.