Yankees Rumors: Robinson Cano for Jacoby Ellsbury trade discussed
Prior to the James Paxton deal, the Mariners reportedly reached out to the Yankees to gauge their interest in a reunion with Robinson Cano. The Yanks countered with Jacoby Ellsbury and talks soon stopped.
Knowing that the Yankees will be without star shortstop Didi Gregorius until midseason, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto believes he has a certain solution for the Bombers: Robinson Cano.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Seattle is in full rebuild mode and are eager to deal Cano and the remaining five years, $120 million on his contract.
"“Earlier this offseason, sources said, the Mariners and Yankees briefly discussed a contract swap involving Canó and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who is owed $47.2 million over the next two years and holds a full no-trade clause.“The Yankees wanted the Mariners to include significant cash in addition to taking Ellsbury, and the talks failed to gain traction, according to one source. Money was but one obstacle: Canó, who probably would need to be a first baseman-DH with his former team, has made just 10 career starts at first, all last season, and the Yankees do not want to tie up their DH spot.”More from Yankees RumorsCreating a Yankees-Bryan Reynolds trade package after latest Pirates update3 lefty relievers Yankees can still sign without breaking the bankWhat on earth is going on with Yankees, Fernando Tatis Jr. and flight to New York?4 former Yankees players New York can still reunite with in free agency4 blockbuster trade targets that could be Yankees next ‘big’ move"
Cano, 36, can still play some second base — though it’s likely no matter who he plays for in 2019, he’ll see extended time at first base and DH.
Shifting Gleyber Torres to shortstop isn’t the issue — taking on Cano’s enormous salary with Seattle unwilling to eat a significant portion is.
Even after missing half of last season due to a positive test for PED’s, Cano still managed to slash .303/.374/.471 with 22 doubles, 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 310 at-bats.
The eight-time All-Star, five-time Silver Slugger and two-time Gold Glove winner may have enough in the tank for a willing club to take a flyer on him, but Cano and his no-trade clause hold all the cards.
Which is probably why Dipoto believes Cano would accept a deal to New York, where he spent the first nine years of his career — hitting a combined .309 with 204 home runs and helping the Yanks win the 2009 World Series.
However, with the M’s reluctance to take back Ellsbury (who is from Oregon and might agree to a trade to the Pacific Northwest), in addition to forking over a substantial sum of dollars to offset Cano’s cost, we shouldn’t expect Robbie’s return anytime soon.
The Yankees are also in no rush to hand over the everyday DH duties to one player.
As much as it pains me to say, despite the fact that Ellsbury missed all last season due to injury — and played in only 112 games in 2017, if Dipoto won’t budge in his assessment of Cano’s value, swallowing Ellsbury’s remaining two seasons is still far less expensive than Cano and his banged-up image.