TEREN'S TAKE: It's Time For Seattle Mariners to Stop Using Robinson Cano as an Excuse
The Seattle Mariners are currently in the middle of another offseason that has been ripe with rumors and speculation.
Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto has made the club's needs crystal clear: the team needs a starting second baseman, a starting third baseman and a first baseman to pair with and/or platoon with Luke Raley.
Seattle has been rumored to have interest in free agent KBO middle infielder Hye-Seong Kim and the team's been involved in trade negotiations involving Alec Bohm (Philadelphia Phillies) and Nico Hoerner (Chicago Cubs).
Almost all of the most reputable rumors have had similar things in common: they either involve trades or inexpensive free agents.
And so continues a frustrating cycle for fans.
There are more than enough marquee free agents that the Mariners could sign that would fill positions of need: Pete Alonso (first base), Alex Bregman (third base) and Willy Adames (middle infield) among them.
The team's owner/chairman John Stanton has already said that Seattle won't be big spenders in the offseason. But it's confusing that, in what's one of the best top-to-bottom free agent markets in years, the Mariners can't make an exception for a big move.
But that was to be expected with Stanton's comments and the Mariners offseason approach in previous years.
But the question is why?
Nobody is expecting Seattle to be the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mariners are a mid-market team. But they're in a small contention window where the majority of their best players are under team control for several years at cheap salaries.
If it's an issue of cost, winning brings in fans. And even during a season where the fans watched Seattle blow a 10-game lead in the American League West and miss the playoffs for the 22nd time in 23 years, the team was still 14th in total attendance (2,555,813). Imagine what that number be and the money that would be brought in if the fans had reason to believe the top brass is serious about contending for a pennant?
So what's the reason? Why are the Mariners so insistent on avoiding paying money to an Alonso or a Bregman?
Well there could be one reason. And if it really is the primary culprit, then it's a ridiculous one.
Former Miami Marlins President and Montreal Expos Executive Vice President David Samson went on the Marine Layer Podcast on Wednesday to talk about Seattle's offseason approach.
In a clip posted to "X" (formerly known as Twitter), Samson seemed in favor of the Mariners trying to find a cheap "diamond in the rough" player while avoiding spending big. In the clip, he invoked the 10-year, $240 million contract the Mariners gave Robinson Cano back in Dec. 2013.
"You know, free agent spending — Man, you guys got Cano. You don't think that still hurts? That sort of signing where there's all this excitement during the offseason, and it ends up being crap? I would know, I've won an offseason or two and ended up being a crappy team. It's fun to win the offseason. But I'd rather win the season.
Former MLB Executive David Samson shares his thoughts on how the Mariners should operate this offseason.
— Marine Layer Podcast (@MarineLayerPod) December 4, 2024
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/XxintDHZNa
Samson's comments are not the first this offseason that have invoked Cano's deal in relation to Seattle not spending.
The Seattle Times' Adam Jude wrote a story published on Sept. 30 pertaining to the Mariners' payroll. There's a point where the article says "the scars of the Robinson Cano contract, 11 years later, still feel like a fresh wound for the Mariners."
I understand Samson's sentiment. You need to have a baseball staff that's capable of drafting, signing and developing young players and drawing out the best of your team.
Here's the thing: they've done that. Victor Robles had a career resurgence with the Mariners in 2024. Julio Rodriguez was all but given the keys to the city after his rookie season. He was signed and developed by the organization. Four of the five members of the starting rotation were drafted and developed by the team.
Seattle's playoff fate has been decided in the final week of the regular season four straight years.
Before the Mariners signed Cano to the deal that's still a franchise-record for a free agent, they had four straight seasons where they won 75 games or less.
If Cano's contract is really the reason for the organization not spending, then it's a lazy reason at best and borderline asinine at worst.
And this is with all due respect to Samson's resume as an executive, which includes a 2003 World Series title with the Marlins, but Cano's tenure in Seattle wasn't "crap."
Let's look at the numbers: in Cano's first year on the roster in 2014, the team improved by 16 games to 87-75. It was the club's first winning season since 2009. He also finished with a 6.3 bWAR (Baseball Reference WAR), the most on the team. He also finished with the highest bWAR in 2016. And the player he helped convince to sign with the team, Nelson Cruz, led the team with a 4.3 bWAR in 2017.
In Cano's five years with the Mariners, he made $109.77 million, per Spotrac. This is not including the money Seattle retained and paid out to him through 2023, which totaled $13.88 million. In total, the Mariners paid Cano roughly $123.65 million for his five seasons of work.
Cano finished his tenure in the Pacific Northwest with a .296 batting average to go with 107 home runs, 411 RBIs and a 23.4 total bWAR.
👋⚾
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 23, 2018
Robinson Canó breaks the tie with a big 3-run homer in the 5th. #GoMariners pic.twitter.com/kczB6ox4BZ
One WAR is worth $8 million. Based on that metric, Cano was worth approximately $187.2 million across those five years. Based on this, Seattle saved $63.55 million. That's not even counting the value he brought the team by convincing Cruz to sign.
Now, there are some reasons Cano's tenure with the Mariners could be considered a "failure." The easiest thing to point to is Seattle didn't make the playoffs any of those five years. Cano and Cruz's deals made it near impossible to add to a starting rotation that struggled during most of the former's tenure in the PNW.
There's also the issue of the PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). In 2018, Cano was handed an 80-game suspension after testing positive, two days after breaking his hand. He didn't return until Aug. 14 that season.
That suspension is likely the one season where it could be considered Cano's fault Seattle didn't make the playoffs. The team had a solid lineup including Kyle Seager, Cruz, Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura. The offense had three players that hit .268 or better and played at least 144 games. The lineup also had five players that hit at least 20 home runs.
The Mariners finished 89-73 in 2018, third in the American League West. They were 24-17 when Cano was dealt his suspension.
I say all of that to say this: it's time to stop using Cano's contract as an excuse for the team not spending. It's frankly absurd. Seattle needed a lot more than one elite bat to be in playoff contention when it signed Cano in 2013.
The Mariners missed out on the playoffs by one game in 2024. Their offense led the league in strikeouts and was arguably the worst in the majors before hitting coach Edgar Martinez and manager Dan Wilson were hired on Aug. 22.
If the offense was even average throughout last season, they would have easily been a playoff team. Seattle has found diamonds in the rough, like Samson suggested. It has drafted and developed. It has acquired players in trades. And the team still has needs three infielders and is likely at least several months of baseball away in 2025 from another top prospect filling one of those roles.
The Mariners shouldn't shift gears away from trading for players like Hoerner or Bohm. They shouldn't stop trying to sign players that could exceed the value of their salary, like Kim.
But one big contract from over a decade ago isn't a good excuse to shy away from players that would be instant difference makers.
Especially when that team making that choice is the only club in the MLB not to appear in a World Series.
Seattle has an amazing core of homegrown players. It has the outfield. It has the pitching staff. It's time to stop making excuses and get over the hump. And handcuffing yourselves is not the way to do it.
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