Negotiate To Excellence - Chris "Preach" Smith

This past Friday, Robinson Cano, formerly the second baseman
for the New York Yankees became a part of the Seattle Mariners.

And if you’re a pragmatist, this was what was going to happen.

It was in the cards the moment the winter season for Major
League Baseball began. When word leaked that Cano and his
agent, Jay-Z of Roc Nation Sports wanted a deal valued at
300 million, it was a wrap. There was no way that the Yanks
would pull the trigger on a deal like that. So when they wound
up signing Jacoby Ellsbury from the World Champion Boston
Red Sox, it paved the way for Cano to get his deal. Not the
full amount, but close. And while it’s a coup for him, it’s also
a coup for Shawn Carter and Roc Nation Sports. Much to the
chagrin of other agents.

Whatever misgivings you may have about Jay-Z, justified
or not, you have to admit that this is a notable accomplishment.
He played this shrewd the whole way. He knew that Brian
Cashman and the Yankees wouldn’t pay Cano that amount
of money while still suffering with the rest of the bloated
contract bearing embattled slugger Alex Rodriguez’s name.
A contract like that for a 31 year old second baseman is
dangerous. Any large contract in professional sports is.
Slowly but surely, the plan was enacted to get Cano in the
Emerald City. First, he had Cano basically claim that he 
really didn’t want 300 million and any reports stating so
were false. Then Jay aligned himself with an established
giant in representation, CAA. They would help with setting
up paperwork and smoothing anything over. The media
conversation picked up speed with Jose Cano, Robinson’s
father stating to some effect that Yankees didn’t want him.
This proved to be the first barb, considering that Jose himself
was part of the Yankees’ farm system to begin his career
in 1980. The Yankees then opted to sign Ellsbury to that
seven year deal worth 153 million. This, despite rumblings
that Seattle had expressed interest in Cano. Now here is
the kicker - Seattle basically was bidding against THEMSELVES.
There’s precedents for such deals of course. And it’s the 
hallmark of superb negotiations. No other team was going
to really bite the bullet. And Seattle needed a marquee
talent. Now the race was on to finalize the deal, but word
came that Seattle was miffed that Jay-Z asked for a tenth
year. Of course media outlets had a field day raking him
over the coals. But the deal got done. And the final twist
came when Robinson basically claimed that he didn’t get
any respect from the Yankees during the process.

Now when you look at everything in totality, you note that
both Cano and the Yankees got what they wanted. Cano
basically will claim the Yanks disrespected him, but if they
offered a deal that amounted to him getting one million
less than he’s currently getting, the claim makes no sense.
Unless you’re trying to not look like the bad guy because
you want to get paid. Cano’s deal is big from Seattle because
their highest paid free agent deal up to this point was Adrian
Beltre. The total? 54 million. It’s a huge gamble for a team
that hasn’t had any real relevance since those glory days
of Ken Griffey Jr. and a younger A-Rod among others. Plus
the front office has been dysfunctional to say the least. As
for the Yankees, they stuck to their guns. But they can’t
be seen as spendthrifts, not after the Ellsbury deal and the
later deal for Carlos Beltran. If you look at it all, they paid
close to the same amount Cano’s getting for two players.
Their PR spin is to pretty much be surprised at Cano’s remarks
but say nothing to quell those critics of the move. To a
predictable degree, the news outlets here have given opinions
ranging from balanced to outraged. And there was one paper
that chose to run a scandal story about a personal situation
involving Cano and child support. A story we may not have
heard if he remained in pinstripes. The clear winner in all of this?
Jay-Z.


Why wouldn’t he be? This deal proved that he can confidently
run with the big dogs in baseball. Netting your client the third
largest deal in MLB history will also make you attractive to 
other players looking for that huge payday. There are those
who look at this and see Cano making a huge mistake, He’s
leaving a premier franchise in New York City. He’s leaving
behind a considerable Dominican fanbase in the Bronx and
Washington Heights. But if you think Hova hasn’t considered
these risks, you underestimate his attention to detail. Think
about it: he chose Cano to be his first MLB client. Cano is a
well-liked guy in baseball. Devoid of scandal unlike A-Rod and
another rumored potential Roc Nation Sports client, Miguel
Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. Another factor is that with 
Cano, Jay-Z has found someone who can not only fully make
an impact with the multitude of Latino baseball fans but also
broaden his appeal to younger fans. The hip-hop connection
can’t be overlooked here as well; Cano’s last birthday party
in Europe was where Timbaland dropped a cut from the project
he’s set to release with Jay next year. Cross-promotion in
overdrive. It’s easy for someone like Scott Boras, Cano’s former
agent, to make catty remarks about this. But behind those 
remarks lies a concern at the way things are changing. There
have been instances of non-agents getting into the game with
success. Actor Duane Martin is a key example with his Impact
Sports agency, boasting Bartolo Colon as a client among others.
But a musician…a RAPPER? Believe there were some snide words.
Folks like Boras could laugh at rappers becoming agents in the past.
Look at Master P and No Limit Sports. The New Orleans rapper
and mogul had made some real cheese in the late 90’s. Sports
was the next step, and so the agency was formed with NBA
players like Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson signing up. The
big coup was former University Of Texas running back Ricky
Williams. But his deal with the New Orleans Saints was a real
piss-poor contract. That was the beginning of the end for No
Limit Sports. A mistake Jay wasn’t going to make.

Robinson Cano is embracing this change along with the money
easily. He’s got a fresh new beard, which was a no-no when
he played with the New York Yankees and their rules against
excessive facial hair. Will he continue to put up numbers for
a ballclub that hasn’t sniffed the playoffs in twelve years? Who
knows? What we do know is that Jay Z negotiated to excellence
and added another feather to his cap. Now we’re waiting on
the next video at Safeco Field.