Imagine a scenario where the Miami Marlins calls Jay Z’s sports agency, Roc Nation, and tells him they are prepared to offer All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano the 10-year, $300 milllion contract the New York Yankees aren’t willing to put on the table.
Roc Nation, surprised but skeptical because of what team is on the other line, decides to tell the Marlins they want $350 million for 10 years. Unfazed, the Marlins says that won’t be a problem.
By Christmas, Cano signs with the Marlins, and the baseball world is stunned.
Believe it or not, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman thinks the Marlins could be a stealth bidder for Cano because they are further along in their accumulation of young talent, and no owner has proven more impetuous in spending and selling off than Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.
In reality, this scenario is a pipe dream. There’s a better chance the Chicago Cubs will win the 2014 World Series than the Marlins have on spending more than $300 million on one single player. But if the Marlins did pull it off, no one would have seen it coming.
And that’s the point of this exercise, which is we will take a look at what big moves, from least likely to most likely, the “cash-strapped” Miami Marlins could realistically pull off this offseason.