Will Red Sox Take A Flyer On Robinson Cano?
BOSTON (CBS) -- It says a lot about the current status of Robinson Cano that the New York Mets are content to pay him over $20 million this year and next year just to not play for them anymore.
It also says a lot about the Red Sox that it's fair to wonder if they might be interested in bringing him aboard.
Cano on Monday was designated for assignment by the Mets, after the veteran second baseman started the year hitting just .195 in 43 plate appearances, after serving his one-year suspension for violating MLB's PED policy. Cano never has lived up to the 10-year, $240 million contract he signed with Seattle before the 2014 season, and his MLB career appears to be fading rapidly.
The question, though, is whether a team desperate for something might give Cano a look on the cheap this year. The Red Sox might fit that bill.
The Red Sox don't necessarily have an easy spot for Cano to fill, so getting him regular at-bats may be a challenge. But considering the Red Sox rank dead last in the American League in OPS at first base and right field while ranking second-to-last in OPS in center field, it's certainly fair to wonder if the team might at least try to see if Cano has anything left.
The 39-year-old Cano has played almost entirely at second base in his career, though he does have 88.2 innings of work under his belt at first base. Regardless, he'd probably make the most sense at this point as a designated hitter. The Red Sox have a designated hitter in J.D. Martinez, though he's missed seven games already.
WEEI's Lou Merloni believes the Red Sox will consider Cano:
CBS Sports' Mike Axisa also listed the Red Sox as one of 11 teams that would make sense to consider Cano.
Whether Chaim Bloom will actually seek to add the veteran player for the league minimum is unknown. For now, Cano is at least showing up on the radar as a possibility.
