Robinson Cano to the Dodgers?

Much of the Dodgers’ offseason planning surely rides on the wings of their upcoming postseason, but they could be poised to continue their streak of huge moves under new ownership.

The Dodgers have already won the NL West title and now look to bring back the World Series trophy for the first time in 25 years Regardless of what they do in the playoffs, I think the Dodgers should make a serious run at second baseman, Robinson Cano. Recently, Cano stated that he wants a 10 year, $305 million dollar contract this offseason Realistically he isn’t going to get it from any team. Cano is a great player but $300-plus million to a player who turns 31 this offseason is ridiculous.

Will Robinson Cano bring his bat to the Dodgers lineup in 2014? By kidsire on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

Why it makes sense

The Dodgers lineup has three offensively “weak” positions: third base, catcher and second base. Adding Cano would shore-up the second base position and add an extra bat to the lineup. Cano has averaged 29 homeruns, 106 RBIs and posted a.310 batting average over the last three seasons. This would be a vast improvement from the Dodgers current second base options, though Mark Ellis has to be one of the better clubhouse guys in the game and is still very good defensively. Here is how the Dodgers potential opening-day lineup would look if Cano put on the Dodger blue next season:

LF Carl Crawford

RF Yasiel Puig

CF Matt Kemp

1B Adrian Gonzalez

2B Robinso Cano

SS Hanley Ramirez

3B Mark Ellis

C AJ Ellis

P Clayton Kershaw

That would be a very scary lineup for opposing pitchers to face. Just one of the players hitting 2-6 would put fear into opponents. Mark Ellis would shift over to third base, the position he played in college at Florida and let Cano take second. The Dodgers could probably get more than Cano this offseason with their large pocketbooks, but I think Cano should be the number-one target. I hope that the Dodgers management feels the same way.