Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 26, 2008
Cano's Contract

Tyler Kepner reports the Yankees and Robinson Cano reached agreement on a contract. The Yankees buy out his four years of arbitration (he's a super two), and hold options for his first two years of free agency. Robinson is guaranteed $29 million, and the options bring the total to $55 million.

Most teams would rather have cost certainty with young players instead of dealing with the expense and hassle of annual salary arbitration. The Yankees have been an exception, usually preferring to wait until free agency forces them to guarantee long-term contracts.

This contract represents a shift in philosophy and a commitment to CanĂ³, 25, who has hit .314 since his promotion in May 2005. He hit .342 in 2006, and followed it up with 19 home runs, 97 runs batted in and a .306 average in 2007.

In the past, the Yankees felt they could afford to wait to see if the player really deserved a long term contract, because they had the money to spend. This route contains more risk, but is fiscally more responsible. And the Yankees are still fairly protected. They pay $7 million a year for a middle infielder who can hit. If for some reason he's done in that time, the last two seasons, in which the price tag doubles, never kicks in. And if he remains at this level over all six seasons, $9 million a year for that kind of performance is a very good deal.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:39 AM | Transactions | TrackBack (0)
Comments

what's a super two?

Posted by: Curioius reader at January 26, 2008 12:28 PM

A super two is a player who has almost three years of service but not quite. Before, a team could bring a player up a week after the season starts and get almost four seasons out of him before he could go to arbitration. There are a certain number of players just short of three years service who can go to arbitration. They can't become free agents until they actually have six years of service, but ball clubs can't get that extra year anymore.

Posted by: David Pinto at January 26, 2008 01:12 PM
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