Mariners Rumors Say Team Actively Shopping Robinson Cano

The Seattle Mariners are actively shopping Robinson Cano, according to The Athletic. The Yankees and Mets are said to have been Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto’s main targets in Mariners rumors.

On Monday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Seattle Mariners are actively shopping Robinson Cano. The 36-year old second baseman has four years remaining on his contract and is owed $120 million.

Cano served an 80-game suspension after testing positive for furosemide, a diuretic that prevents your body from absorbing too much salt. After being reactivated on 8/14/2018, in 179 plate appearances, Cano hit .317 with a .363 OBP and .497 SLG.

Trading Robinson Cano will be no easy task for Dipoto and the Mariners. However, it hasn’t stopped them from aggressively reaching out to teams in which Cano might fill a need and could potentially waive his no-trade clause for.

What We Know

According to The Athletic, the Mariners reached out to the Yankees and offered to swap two albatross contracts: Robinson Cano ($120 million/4 years) for Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury has $47.2 million remaining on his contract with two more years remaining.

Ellsbury, a native of Madras, OR, which is less than 300 miles away from Seattle, WA, has been nothing short of a bust for the Yankees. Since signing with the Yankees in 2014, Ellsbury has missed significant time in 2015 and 2017. He missed all of 2018, and has been a far cry from the Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox, where he played a significant role of the 2013 championship team.

According to a source on The Athletic piece, the deal between the Yankees and the Mariners fell through when the Yankees asked for “significant cash” to be part of the deal.

The piece also claims that Dipoto made a push to the Mets as well. After trading Asdrubel Cabrera last season, the Mets have been short at 2B. Adding Cano would significantly improve the position, but it seems the Mets are not really all that interested.

A deal would have to involve Yoenis Cespedes, who is owed $58.5 million over the next two seasons. Cespedes has a no-trade clause, however, and is likely to decline a deal to Seattle.

The Only Hope

It seems that the best chance for Seattle to unload Robinson Cano is only if they offer the Yankees cash along with the 5x Silver Slugger for Ellsbury. And it might actually not be too bad of a move for both teams.

For Seattle, they’d cut Cano’s contract in half, freeing up salary space in two seasons rather than four. Ellsbury, closer to home, could come back and be somewhat effective for the M’s, who seem to be undergoing a rebuild.

For the Yankees, they can alternate Cano between 1B/DH, where he played 88.2 innings in SEA last season. Despite, not being stellar at first, Cano was only able to muster a -1 DRS, he would be an improvement for the Yankees.

The Yankees ranked 18th in DRS among all MLB teams at 1B, Luke Voit and Greg Bird combining for a -10 DRS. Also, offensively, Cano would drastically improve the Yankees offense. The Yankees ranked 18th in OPS (.744) among all 1B in MLB. Cano’s OPS was a .100 points better in 2018.

Most importantly, the Yankees would unload one of the most despised players in pinstripes: Jacoby Ellsbury. This move would effectively undo the 2014 move, trading away an injury prone OF for the player with the most games played in MLB since he debuted in 2005.

The deal looks unlikely to happen, but perhaps both teams should give the deal one last look before officially walking away.