MLB rumors: Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade talks heating up, per report

MLB Rumors: Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz may be New York Mets rather than Seattle Mariners very soon, based on tweets from Jeff Passan, who says “[t]here is significant momentum toward a deal.” While rumblings about this have been floating around the past few days, the deal didn’t seem to make sense in the way it was being described, but Passan indicates it may be coming to fruition.

The Mariners would be packaging Diaz, who emerged as a stud closer for them last year, and who has four years of team control remaining, along with Cano to get the Mets to take on the bulk of the 5 years and $120 million remaining on Cano’s contract. Cano, who just turned 36, missed half of last season due to a PED suspension, but still put up a 3.2 bWAR campaign in that half a season, so he’s still at this point a quality player. Nevertheless, he’s getting a ton of money as he enters his late 30s, and he may have to move off second base soon. Cano would have to waive his 10/5 rights to go to the Mets, but Passan indicates it is believed that wouldn’t be an issue.

There has been talk that the Mets might make the M’s take rightfielder Jay Bruce, who put up a 680 OPS last year and is owed $28 million over the next two seasons, and/or kick in cash on Cano’s deal as part of the trade. This seems like a baffling move for the M’s, though it ultimately depends on what prospects they get and how much money they end up offloading as part of this deal. But including a highly sought after asset in the trade just to save some of Cano’s salary doesn’t make a lot of sense, to me.