Are Yankees fans hypocritical for calling Robinson Cano a sellout?

Back in 2013, CC Sabathia said being a Yankee lifer “didn’t matter that much to Cano."

If taken out of context, that comment had all the makings of a good scandal, especially in New York, where everyone is supposed want to be a Yankee lifer.

It was said during the apex of the Robinson Cano’s free agent negotiations, when all of heaven and earth was waiting with bated breath to see where the second basemen would land, and a player — especially a Yankee player — criticizing another about his lack of loyalty would have generated enough page clicks to break the Internet.

But, try as the hungry media might, there was no malice hidden in Sabathia’s voice to twist. How could there be? CC understood the process of free agency. He’d long since lost his chance to be a lifer, and had also been through the ordeal of leaving a team where the fan base felt sacrificing club loyalty for obscene millions was vulgar.

CC also knew that Cano wanted to do what was best for him and his family, and he believed taking as many guaranteed dollars as he could get was the correct course of action. He understood the business of baseball.

But, as I said, CC was not a Yankee Lifer. Derek Jeter, baseball’s perfect son who bleeds pinstripes, is. After Cano’s signing for obscene millions with the Mariners, Jeter said he wasn’t surprised Cano moved on, nor upset, understood why, and was happy for him. The conversation should have stopped there. Court adjourned.

Not so. Yankees fans burned on it for months, drudging up everything they could to bad mouth Cano. They claimed he didn’t like playing for Girardi, he didn’t care about the people of New York. He didn’t care about winning, or championships. He was greedy, was always about the money, let it be known he wanted to leave, and wasn’t that well liked by his teammates, and didn’t always hustle.

Then, they turned to cursing Jay Z, Cano’s agent, for making the great city of New York — a city to which he often pays homage in his music — weaker instead of stronger. Then, they cursed Seattle as if it were some cesspool compared to the great Empire City.

Now, nearly 5 months after the signing, they’ve came out to boo Cano over something that should have died 5 months ago.

It’s hard to call out the amorphous blob that a fan base is, especially since the most vocal fans rarely represent the majority’s feelings. However, majority or minority, one has to wonder how Yankees fans of any degree can miss the hypocrisy of calling out a player for being a sellout when, for decades, that’s how the franchise acquired many of it stars. Heck, they just poached Jacoby Ellsbury from the Red Sox!

The money argument, that Robinson Cano singed a ridiculous contract he’ll never live up to, and therefore would have been better off with the Yankees — where he would have made less, but had a better chance of winning — makes no sense. Just stop.

Why? 

First, because winning isn't guaranteed. One need only look at the 2011 Red Sox super team. Or the 2012 Marlins super team. Or the 2013 Blue Jays super team. 

Second, because guaranteed contract dollars are, in fact, guaranteed. Yes, Cano could have been set for life with the 175 offered by the Yankees, but the additional 65 million dollars is a lot to walk away from.

Third, Cano’s contract has proven to be not so ridiculous after all. Eight years, $248-million dollars for a guy that can only hit like Miguel Cabrera? Seven years, $153-million for a low power, injury risk like Ellsbury? A 10 year, $275-million dollar contract for a position player that covers him until he’s 42 in Alex Rodriguez? And that was seven years ago!

The greed and arrogance arguments that surrounds big contracts always floor me. Always. It’s so provincial, and it omits the fact that baseball players train their entire lives to make it to the top so they can get paid like stars. It rejects that truth, that Major League Baseball is a for profit enterprise, not simply among players, but as a whole.

If anything, an outsider to the situation believing they have the right to tell the player what his personal priorities and desires should be is the arrogant part.

Ironically, Cano probably still loves New York — and, barring a battery to the head, probably always will — but only in the sense that a person can love working at a job until confronted with a superior position elsewhere, and there are very few of us that would look at an upgrade to set-for-life dollars in the same position we know in a beautiful city and say, “No, people might think I’m greedy, I’d better not.”

I understand why fans get upset when players leave. I truly do. Fans invest a lot into their favorite players, and in what those players can do for their favorite team. However, very few players will ever be in the position take a hometown discount. In part because they belong to a union and taking a lower offer hurts the bargaining precedent, but also because there are massive disparities in payroll flexibility any given season and discounts aren’t always in proportion.

But most importantly, if you do take the discount and go on to suck, fans will hate you anyway. So, as much as you may love and appreciate the fans, it’s best to remember they are a fickle, well meaning, but ultimately hypocritical bunch.

The game is played for profit. That means there is always the potential for a cruel bottom line. It's best to take the sentimentality out of the equation and save it for the end of a players long and productive career, not for when they negotiate contracts.