Report: Cano-Mariners Talks Break Off (UPDATED)

You know that desperation I mentioned a few hours ago?  Yeah, looks like that's all it was.  As first reported by Mark Feinsand, talks between the Seattle Mariners and Robinson Cano fell apart last night after Jay-Z changed the contract demands.  The Mariners were under the impression that Cano and his team were coming out to agree to the 9-year/$225 million offer only to be surprised and apparently angered when Jay-Z countered with a request for 10 years/$252 million.

There's no word on whether or not talks are expected to pick back up over the weekend or if the original Seattle offer is still on the table, but I can't imagine this will do anything to help Cano's case on the market.  Right now this looks like another attempt by his people to drudge up some competition and gain leverage in their talks with the Yankees and right now it looks like it's failed.  If other teams think Cano isn't willing to take 9/$225 mil to leave New York, why would they even bother making an offer that beats that?  The impression being given off is that Cano truly wants to stay with the Yankees, and now he might end up having to take their latest deal (7/170) to do it.

** UPDATE 9:56 AM- Talks are "still alive" according to Ken Rosenthal, and a deal for more than $225 million is "close" according to Jon Heyman.  It's gonna be a fun afternoon ... **