Robinson Cano Wants a Kings Ransom from Yankees

If Robinson Cano is serious about his contract demands, he could easily find himself in another uniform come next season.

Cano, who is represented by Jay-Z's new sports agency, is demanding $305 million over 10-years from potential bidders, including the Yankees. 

Forget about home team discounts, because now Yankees GM Brian Cashman is being asked to only play chess, he's being asked to do play poker blindfolded.  According to ESPN, people around Cano believe that he will take the biggest offer he can get, meaning that his days with the Yankees could be numbered. 

The Yankees have been stedfast in shrinking their 2014 payroll below $189 million. The only way the Yankees could afford Cano is if A-Rod is outta here. 

How does that happen? 

If Alex Rodriguez is suspended for the entire 2014 season by Major League Baseball, it will actually help the Yankees in pursuing such free agents like Cano, because only in that scenario are the Yankees free from Rodriguez's albatross contract, and money gets freed up. 

If not, or, if A-Rod has his suspension reduced, you can basically forget about Cano returning. 

Cano isn't helping the Yankees cause here. His contract demands are completely ridiculous. He's 30-years-old, and while he has produced some big time numbers, he has never been the most dominating player in the sport. 

Plus likely suitors, the Angles and Dodgers, are tapped out financially. Other likely spenders like the Mets, and Red Sox refuse to spend any big money anymore, while the Phillies and Rangers are still getting out of some big contracts. 

So where will Cano go? If he is smart, he will lower his contract demands, because there is no way that a MLB team will cave to Cano and Jay-Z and give them $300 million over 10-years. 

It will not happen, not in today's economy where everyone is pinching pennies to this day. 

Cano might be worth at most $180 million over that same time span, which might be a friendly offer that the Yankees could match, especially if they can add some cost saving incentives in there as well. 

Reports are that Cano is heading for vacation once the season ends Sunday, so the likelyhood that the Yankees will have time to seriously negotiate with Cano before the end of October are slim, at least right now. 

The Yankees can ill afford to lose Cano, and if Cano is smart, he'll realize he can ill afford to not be a Yankee.