The Robinson Cano Saga Has Begun

Roc Nation Sports meets with members of the Mets front office.

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Ken Davidoff of The New York Post reports a secret meeting was held between representatives for free agent second baseman Robinson Cano and the New York Mets. Well, it’s no longer a secret.

The location: NoMad Hotel at Broadway and 28th Street, a posh Manhattan hotel. The purpose: a chit-chat session? In attendance: Jay-Z, Brodie Van Wagenen and Juan Perez, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson and assistant general manager John Ricco. Note that Cano was not there.

Of course, there was most likely a pitch for Cano, but it is anybody’s guess as to the exact reason for the meeting. As Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog.com writes:

"The goal was to — more or less — introduce himself and his new agency, Roc Nation Sports, and pitch his client, Cano, probably as a warm up for actually sitting down with the Yankees, which he has yet to do."

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Mets informed Roc Nation Sports that chances of Cano becoming a Met were “slim”.

So it appears that Jay-Z will be more hands-on than we thought.

He has to be. There’s as much on the line for him as there is for Cano. Seeing as Cano is his first big client to hit the free agent market, there’s a reputation Jay-Z has at stake here. The Cano camp is insistent of their original demand: ten years, $310MM.

But what better way to stoke the coals than to contact the in-town rival – if rival can be used – in the hopes that the Yankees engage in some discussion. Might draw other interested teams out of the woodwork. Even this seems unlikely considering that rival GMs have some knowledge that the Mets will not be in the market for for Cano’s services. I tend to go the way of Cerrone and Rosenthal on this.

This might not stoke the flames under the seats of the front office at Yankee Stadium, but it has already fanned those flames between the fanbases as well. Head to Cerrone’s post and read the more than 500 comments (that’s the number as of 2 PM ET).

But what could make RNS step on the gas just a bit is this from Mark Feinsand of The New York Daily News who quotes Yankees president Randy Levine:

"“We’re not waiting around,” Levine said. “If guys start to come off the board, we’re going to sign them, which will affect the amount of money we have left for other players including him (Cano).”"

Feinsand adds that the Yankees have been in contact with the agents for multiple free agents.