Baseball's best rivalry … Dodgers-Giants? Yanks-Sox? Or, perhaps, Scott Boras-Jay-Z. As Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com writes in a fascinating piece, the rapper-turned-mogul's challenge to baseball's old school super agent is a real one, but the success of the gambit could turn on whether or not Jay-Z lands Robinson Cano a contract that befits his status as the game's premier free agent. Here's more on Cano and the Yanks:
- There has been no recent movement in negotiations between the Yankees' front office and Cano's representatives, reports Dan Martin of the New York Post (hat tip to Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues). Martin also explains that Cano has yet to get a read on what other teams might be willing to pay.
- Indeed, Cano has acknowledged that no other clubs have made an offer, according to Christian Red of the New York Daily News. Of course, that is far from surprising at this early stage.
- Meanwhile, the Alex Rodriguez grievance proceedings remain a constraint on the club, according to manager Joe Girardi. As the Associated Press reports (via the Boston Herald), Girardi said that the club needs to know as soon as possible whether it needs to acquire a full-time third baseman for next season.
- The skipper also declined to annoint David Robertson as the team's closer, saying "we've got to see what we can put together as a team as a whole before we do anything." The back of the bullpen may not be the Bombers' biggest area of need, but there are a lot of guys with closing experience hoping that it is on the radar.
- If the Yanks lose Hiroki Kuroda and/or fail to land Masahiro Tanaka, power pitchers could make up the backup plan, the New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote yesterday. Sherman notes Josh Johnson and Dan Haren as possibilities, while his Post colleague George A. King III says that the club could be in on Ubaldo Jimenez.