Brad Penner – USATODAY Sports
The baseball world is abuzz with the rumors that the New York Mets took a meeting with the representatives of New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. On the surface, this may seem like a big deal, but this meeting was meaningless for the Mets, who have no business getting involved with the free agent bidding for Cano this offseason.
Cano’s representatives, led by rapper and mogul Jay-Z, insisted on meeting Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and owner Jeff Wilpon most likely as a way to pique interest for Cano from other teams, specifically the Yankees. The meeting is nothing more than a ruse concocted on Cano’s behalf to force the Yankees to get serious about Cano by trying to convince them that their cross-town rivals are an actual threat to steal Cano away from them this offseason.
If the Yankees’ front office is smart — and we should assume that they are — they won’t be fooled. The Yankees should know that Alderson has intimated the Mets won’t be signing a free agent this offseason that requires a contract of over $100 million, and since Cano is hoping for a contract three times as much there’s no way the Mets could possibly be serious contenders to sign Cano.
Unless the price for Cano is coming way down, which wouldn’t be happening this early in the offseason anyway, there’s no reason to take this meeting seriously from a Mets perspective. They don’t have the payroll flexibility to sign Cano and fill all of their other needs.
As for the Yankees, as well as all of the other teams considering Cano this offseason, they shouldn’t be fooled. Unless the price drops significantly the Mets aren’t going to be making an offer for Cano, and there should be no reason to think that the Mets are involved in Cano’s free agency at this point.
Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.
Related links:
New York Mets Rumors: Robinson Cano is a Bad Idea
