Yankees rumors: Cano expecting "top-of-the-market dollars"

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is under contract with the Bronx Bombers for at least one more season, but could look for "top-of-the-market dollars" this coming year, either in extension talks or on the free agent market, reports Joel Sherman of the NY Post:

[A] few members of the team told me Cano has said he is expecting a 10-year contract at top-of-the-market dollars.

In a conversation with me yesterday, Boras also did not give numbers, but it was clear he expects his client to be treated financially like one of the great players in the game.

General manager Brian Cashman is expected to confer with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner about whether the club will make an exception this offseason to their rule about not negotiating contract extensions while players are still under contract. The Yankees hold a $15 million option for Cano's 2013 season, but the club may be worried that his agent, Scott Boras, will decline any negotiations once April comes around so his client can test the open market.

While Cano put up historically bad numbers in the postseason, his regular-season production was right in line with his usual, stellar numbers. The 30-year-old Cano hit .313/.379/.550 with a career-high thirty-three home runs on the season. The four-time All-Star has averaged one hundred sixty games a season over the past six years.