Cano talks with Mariners break down, signing in Seattle unlikely

Jay Z has got 99 problems and asking for a reasonable contract for Robinson Cano is one.

By Thursday night, it was starting to look like Cano would be the next big superstar to play for the Seattle Mariners after Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. Cano was flying to Seattle to meet face-to-face with top Mariners executives, as they were reportedly ready to offer the all-star second baseman a 9-year, $225 million contract.

Cano's plane landed in Seattle shortly after 9pm EST, and was met there by his agent, Jay Z, who was able to attend because he had a concert in Anaheim on Friday.

Talks were said to be running fine, the Mariners believed that Cano was ready to accept their 9-year, $225 million offer, and then, as the NY Daily News reports, Jay Z tried to overplay his hand and asked for 10-year, $260 million. Seattle wanted no part of that, things go heated, and now Cano is unlikely to become the face of any Starbucks commercials in Seattle.

The Mariners' offer was $50 million more than what the Yankees are offering to Cano, at seven-years, $175 million. That's their sealing in terms of both money and years. The Yankees, according to reports, have no intention to ever offer Cano $200, and are standing firm at seven-years.

The Yankees haven't talked with Cano's representatives since early last week, and were suppose to resume talks on Monday, but because of the sizable gap between the two sides, they decided not to met.

During their last meeting with the Yankees, Cano lowered his asking price to nine-years, $250-$260 million.

Cano's father, Jose Cano, wants his son to stay with the Yankees because it's reasonably close to his Dominican Republic home, and close enough to where he can see his son often.

But Jose told the NY Daily News Thursday that he isn't impressed with the way the Yankees are pursuing his son, and thinks they don't really want him back.

"The Yankees don't seem to want him," Jose Cano told the Daily News on Thursday.

"Look, we're still talking," Yankees principal owner Hal Steinbrenner said Thursday. "Nobody has given up. We're still talking, but obviously we're a decent distance apart. We're just going to have to see, day by day. That's all we can do."

General manager Brian Cashman also said Thursday that the Yankees have been trying to re-sign Cano, but it's hard to get that done at the moment with all of the holes the Yanks still have to fill.

"We would love to have him," Cashman said. "Just like we took Brian McCann right now from the Braves and every other suitor because we were willing to pay a certain amount, that certainly could happen to us in the Robbie Cano sweepstakes. That's the way the process works.

"Some people wind up signing elsewhere for more money than the home club was willing to give and other players can take discounts to stay if they have better offers. Sometimes you find common ground and get a deal done. I can't tell you how this is going to shake out just yet. He's a great player, he's been a great Yankee, I've got nothing but good things to say about him."

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 Tweet