The New York Yankees and superstar Robinson Cano are reportedly nowhere near agreeing on a new contract for the second baseman, according to CBS Sports baseball insider Jon Heyman.
Cano will become a free agent at season’s end, and at the moment, it looks very likely that the 30-year-old will wind up testing the market next fall assuming neither side budges.
Here are the details, via Heyman’s report:
While Cano isn’t speaking abut contract talks publicly, he is said to have suggested to some friends that he’d like somewhere in the neighborhood of $275 million—yes, the very same as the famed Alex Rodriguez Yankees contract. The Yankees aren’t believed to be anywhere near that neighborhood and, in fact, at one point suggested something a lot closer to the neighborhood of a different New York infielder, David Wright, who signed his $138 million, eight-year Mets contract last winter with a year to go before free agency.
According to Heyman, it’s thought that Cano’s representatives and the Yankees will resume contract talks after the MLB All-Star break this July.
Heyman adds that players close to the situation believe that the Yankees are Cano’s preferred club at this point.
Cano has come on strong for the Yankees since the 2009 season, hitting 25 or more home runs in each of the past four seasons and batting over .300 in each of those campaigns as well.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Cano is a four-time AL All-Star and a World Series champion, helping the Yankees win their 27th title back in 2009.
Cano is in the midst of his ninth season with the Yankees. The two-time Gold Glove Award winner and four-time Silver Slugger Award winner made his MLB debut with the club in May 2005.
Cano has played in over 70 games this year, batting just .275, his lowest regular-season average since 2008. The good news for Yankees fans, though, is that he’s still finding other ways to make an impact. Cano has smashed 16 homers and has plated over 40 runs thus far in 2013.
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