For some people the decision that
Robinson Cano made to leave the Yankees was and maybe still could be hard to accept. He was one of our own. He was young and he was the future of our team. But then he left and suddenly the future wasn't so clear. What was clear though was the perception that many fans had which was.....he left for the money. He was greedy.
I can't even imagine what $240 million dollars looks like and I probably won't even get to see a tiny fraction of that in my lifetime, but Cano does. I'm sure the years and the money were a major deciding factor for Cano to leave. He won't have to worry about getting that one last deal before he retires, like former teammate
Mark Teixeira for example. He is past the prime of his career and has to worry about putting up the numbers this year if he wants that last three year deal before he walks away from the game. Nope, Cano is sitting pretty and has a secure job until he is forty if he chooses. No pressure there.
But there is still some pressure resting on his shoulders. For all of his years with the Yankees the expectation was always to win it all. Now he has a big contract, big expectations to go with it and a new goal. Seattle is no New York and early indications were the Cano was very unhappy. One of my favorite pieces on this was back in March 2014 called
HEY DUMMY... because it was the first sign of disbelief and stress that his new team did not have the same philosophy as his old team. It gave Yankee fans a little insight as to how different life was for him with his new team and how hard his transition was.
They say money can't buy happiness and I have always thought that Robinson Cano would be the first one to admit to that, but now supposedly everything is good in Seattle. After two years of speculation that he really was unhappy he finally spoke out this week. Supposedly, everything is good now and he is happy, read that
HERE. Before it was rumored that he felt disconnected from what he once knew and now suddenly things have changed.
Why is that? Now he says he is
"having fun again." Does that mean he wasn't having fun before? A lot has changed since he has left New York. Baseball changes constantly but if you would have told me that the Seattle Mariners would've become relevant contenders in the AL West right now while the Yankees were struggling to pass the .500 mark in 2016 I wouldn't have believed you. So is it because the Mariners are in first place in their division and the Yankees.....aren't? I don't know. Or maybe because he now has the money, a top dog reputation, and is winning? It could be.
The truth is he could've had two of those three things if he would've signed that more modest contract offered by the Yankees, He could've been a winner....and he still would've had a nice contract. The one thing that he would not have until years down the road was the "leader" role. As long as
Derek Jeter was a Yankee he wasn't going to be the top dog. Would he have had it eventually? I think so, but we all know what happened instead and we will never know what could have been.
So now Cano has it all....he has the money, the leader role, and he is winning. Well, he is winning in May. But he has helped revive the Mariners and turn the team around. Now they are competitive and may stay that way. He left New York and got the same thing he as looking for in Seattle. So Cano, if you really are happy then I am good with that. You can't afford to look back and wonder
"what if" and most importantly....neither can we.
--Jeana Bellezza,
BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ
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