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Jim Bowden has a piece at ESPN Insider where he details one move that each American League team should make, and for the Rangers, he says they should sign Robinson Cano to an eight year, $200 million deal. This, Bowden says, would give the Rangers a middle of the order slugger, plus give them a surplus of middle infielders which would allow them to trade Ian Kinsler, and also deal Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar to St. Louis for a package that would include "either Oscar Taveras or Matt Adams."
Where to begin with this mess? First of all, giving an eight year contract to Robinson Cano would be completely out of character for this organization. That means locking up a guy through his age 38 season at retail prices. Cano is an outstanding player, but he's entering his age 31 season, which means he should be expected to get worse, not better. And he plays second base, a position where players tend not to age well anyway. That's a contract that is going to look awful about halfway through the deal.
Secondly, do we really think the Yankees wouldn't match at 8/$200M? Of course they would. (UPDATE -- Per this story, the Yankees have already offered 7 years, $165M). And if the money is close, Cano (and Jay-Z) are going to pick New York. The Rangers are going to have to blow away a Yankees offer to get Cano to come here -- something like the 10 year, $260 million deal that Albert Pujols got. And even that may not be enough.
Third, the Rangers already have a surfeit of talent in the middle infield spots, and can't find an acceptable deal for their surplus. If they don't have a Kinsler or Profar or Elvis deal they like now, why is it going to be more likely that they'll find two good deals once they've backed themselves into a corner by signing Cano?
Fourth, the Rangers, by all accounts, think very highly of Kinsler, Profar and Elvis. Why do we think the Rangers would go moneywhip Cano so that they can deal two of the guys they've planned on having as part of their core?
Fifth, saying "either Matt Adams and Oscar Taveras" is ludicrous. Adams is a good platoon player, someone comparable to David Murphy when Murphy was in his prime. Taveras is one of the top prospects in baseball. You don't trade Elvis or Profar to get a package headed up by Matt Adams. And the Cardinals don't look like they're going to deal Taveras.
And sixth, this ignores the fact that one of the Rangers' top minor league prospects is Rougned Odor, a guy who plays...second base. So not only are you signing a player who plays a position that you have two very good options to fill at the major league level, he also plays a position your position prospect who is closest to the majors also plays.
Just absolute insanity.
UPDATE -- I just saw his suggestion for Seattle is to sign Shin-Soo Choo to a 5 year, $85 million deal. Why wouldn't the Rangers just do that, instead of signing Cano for twice as much and then jumping through all those hoops?