Where will Robinson Cano sign?

By Grant Brisbee@GrantBrisbee Nov 2, 2013, 10:00am EDT

Robinson Cano switched agencies recently.

Scott Boras, you over baby
Robinson Cano, you coming with me

He moved to something of a high-profile agency looking to do high-profile things with their first big client. Those are Jay-Z lyrics, and Cano is with his the rapperpreneneur 's new Roc Nation agency. They have big ideas.

Cano asked for 10 yrs $310M -- would beat A-Rod if got all bonuses, 10-$305M. #Yankees said no. No discussions in months since then
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) September 26, 2013

The kind of big ideas that, if you hear on the radio while driving, will make you do a u-turn on the freeway, pull off on the side of the road, scale a fence, run 900 feet, dash into a gas station, and buy a bottle of water just so you can spit it out and say, "Ten years and $310 million?!?" And even if you were to do that, you'd wonder if you didn't do enough to express your shock appropriately.

Robinson Cano's 31st birthday was last week. Happy birthday, Robinson Cano!

The age might not mean as much for a player who's missed seven games since 2006, most of them simple rest days. Cano is nothing if not durable. But second basemen don't exactly age like a fine wine or Tom Waits album. They're bananas and Skid Row. Here's a master list of second basemen with three or more two-win seasons after turning 31.

Rk		Yrs	From	To	Age
1	Eddie Collins	10	1918	1927	31-40	Ind. Seasons
2	Jeff Kent	8	1999	2007	31-39	Ind. Seasons
3	Joe Morgan	8	1975	1983	31-39	Ind. Seasons
4	Lou Whitaker	7	1988	1994	31-37	Ind. Seasons
5	Charlie Gehringer	7	1934	1940	31-37	Ind. Seasons
6	Nap Lajoie	7	1906	1913	31-38	Ind. Seasons
7	Willie Randolph	6	1986	1991	31-36	Ind. Seasons
8	Miller Huggins	6	1910	1915	32-37	Ind. Seasons
9	Mark Ellis	5	2008	2013	31-36	Ind. Seasons
10	Craig Biggio	5	1997	2005	31-39	Ind. Seasons
11	Frank White	5	1982	1987	31-36	Ind. Seasons
12	Bobby Grich	5	1980	1985	31-36	Ind. Seasons
13	Davey Lopes	5	1976	1983	31-38	Ind. Seasons
14	Eddie Stanky	5	1947	1951	31-35	Ind. Seasons
15	Joe Gordon	5	1946	1950	31-35	Ind. Seasons
16	Chase Utley	4	2010	2013	31-34	Ind. Seasons
17	Mark Grudzielanek	4	2003	2007	33-37	Ind. Seasons
18	Randy Velarde	4	1995	2000	32-37	Ind. Seasons
19	Ryne Sandberg	4	1991	1996	31-36	Ind. Seasons
20	Red Schoendienst	4	1954	1957	31-34	Ind. Seasons
21	Billy Herman	4	1941	1946	31-36	Ind. Seasons
22	Buddy Myer	4	1935	1939	31-35	Ind. Seasons
23	Frankie Frisch	4	1930	1934	31-35	Ind. Seasons
24	Rogers Hornsby	4	1927	1931	31-35	Ind. Seasons
25	Del Pratt	4	1919	1922	31-34	Ind. Seasons
Rk		Yrs	From	To	Age
26	Claude Ritchey	4	1905	1908	31-34	Ind. Seasons
27	Jamey Carroll	3	2006	2009	32-35	Ind. Seasons
28	Placido Polanco	3	2007	2009	31-33	Ind. Seasons
29	Ray Durham	3	2003	2006	31-34	Ind. Seasons
30	Bret Boone	3	2001	2003	32-34	Ind. Seasons
31	Roberto Alomar	3	1999	2001	31-33	Ind. Seasons
32	Cookie Rojas	3	1971	1973	32-34	Ind. Seasons
33	Jim Gilliam	3	1961	1963	32-34	Ind. Seasons
34	Connie Ryan	3	1951	1953	31-33	Ind. Seasons
35	Jackie Robinson	3	1950	1952	31-33	Ind. Seasons
36	Bobby Doerr	3	1949	1951	31-33	Ind. Seasons
37	Lonny Frey	3	1942	1946	31-35	Ind. Seasons
38	Max Bishop	3	1931	1933	31-33	Ind. Seasons
39	Larry Doyle	3	1918	1920	31-33	Ind. Seasons

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com

It's a longer list than you might think, but remember what the parameters are. A two-win season isn't exactly special. It's okay. And the cutoff is three of these seasons. Cano wants to be paid like an eight-win player for 10 seasons. Let's see if there are any second basemen who could claim half as much -- four wins for five seasons after turning 31.

Three. All of them before World War II. Even the all-time greats with longevity at the position -- Joe Morgan, Lou Whitaker, Jeff Kent -- wouldn't have been worth half of Cano's ideal contract. Again, the three who did qualify would have been worth Cano money in about half of the seasons during the life of the contract.

Here's a list of teams crazy enough to spend $300 million on one player:

Dodgers

And a list of teams who have already signed a second baseman in the last month:

Dodgers

Not that the Dodgers aren't crazy enough to stick Alexander Guerrero at third and sign Cano. But for now, let's assume they're more interested in re-signing Clayton Kershaw and going after Masahiro Tanaka than a second second baseman.

That leaves a lot of teams that would be interested in Cano. Really, really interested. Willing to pay something crazy, something like Prince Fielder money if they got the chance, willing to agree to a contract with a good chance of being an arodian debacle in five years. But ain't no one touching $300 million.

I could see the Orioles spending a lot, considering the relative youth and cost of most of their best players. They could deal with a clunker of a contract, at least for a while.

The Tigers probably don't have a ton left to spend, but maybe Mike Ilitch is looking for one more big score.

Maybe the White Sox or Mets would be interested in a return to free-spending glory, and they could certainly use Cano.

But there is no team that comes even close to needing Cano as much as the Yankees. It's a team that is absolutely built on the idea of short-term success. Everything about the Yankees screams "NOW NOW NOW" because there are clouds approaching. Look at the roster and figure out who'll still be good in three years. Maybe Brett Gardner and Ivan Nova. Those are the long-term cornerstones.

Even with Cano on the roster, the Yankees still weren't a playoff team last year. Without him, they have no shot. What will they do, trade the last vestiges of the farm for Brandon Phillips? Even if they pull all the stops to get the second-best second baseman on the market, he'll still be half as good as Cano, at best. That doesn't help the team that's already tobogganing down the other side of contending mountain.

No, the Yankees need Cano, even beyond the PR-related idea that Hall of Fame Yankees don't leave. And I think after all the offers come back, Cano will realize he needs the Yankees, too.

Prediction: Yankees, eight years, $226 million. Which will seem absolutely hilarious at the time, and even funnier as the years progress.

Except we all know the Yankees will win the World Series at some point during the contract, just because.