Robinson Cano, Future Ancient Mariner

The Seattle Mariners have signed former Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano to a ten-year, $240 million contract. Second base is a tough position. A lot of guys don't last long there. Among Hall of Famers, Rogers Hornsby's and Jackie Robinson's last full years at the position were at age 33. Roberto Alomar's was at 35. Rod Carew moved over to first when he was 30. A couple Yankees: Joe Gordon was 35 during his last season, and Tony Lazzeri played only 81 games past his 33rd birthday. 

Cano will be 40 in the last year of his contract. Here's a list of players since 1901 who played 120 or more games at second at age 38 or more:

Player	OPS	G	Year	Age	Tm	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
Jeff Kent	.875	136	2007	39	LAD	494	78	149	36	1	20	79	57	61	1	3	.302	.375	.500
Joe Morgan	.838	134	1982	38	SFG	463	68	134	19	4	14	61	85	60	24	4	.289	.400	.438
Nap Lajoie	.802	137	1913	38	CLE	465	66	156	25	2	1	68	33	17	17		.335	.398	.404
Craig Biggio	.792	155	2005	39	HOU	590	94	156	40	1	26	69	37	90	11	1	.264	.325	.468
Davey Lopes	.764	147	1983	38	OAK	494	64	137	13	4	17	67	51	61	22	4	.277	.341	.423
Craig Biggio	.727	145	2006	40	HOU	548	79	135	33	0	21	62	40	84	3	2	.246	.306	.422
Frank White	.635	135	1989	38	KCR	418	34	107	22	1	2	36	30	52	3	2	.256	.307	.328
Kid Gleason	.604	155	1905	38	PHI	608	95	150	17	7	1	50	45	45	16		.247	.302	.303
Rabbit Maranville	.579	149	1932	40	BSN	571	67	134	20	4	0	37	46	28	4		.235	.295	.284
Kid Gleason	.550	135	1906	39	PHI	494	47	112	17	2	0	34	36	29	17		.227	.281	.269
Rabbit Maranville	.539	143	1933	41	BSN	478	46	104	15	4	0	38	36	34	2		.218	.274	.266
Bobby Lowe	.494	141	1904	38	TOT	507	47	105	14	6	0	40	17	44	15		.207	.236	.258

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 12/6/2013.

That's just nine players in baseball history: Craig Biggio, Kid Gleason, Jeff Kent, Nap Lajoie, Davey Lopes, Bobby Lowe, Rabbit Maranville, Joe Morgan, and Frank White. And of those, there were only five seasons (the first five listed above) in which the old guy at second was a decent offensive contributor. 

Of course, this contract isn't about Cano's 2021-2023 seasons. It's about a Mariners team that was 12th of the 15 teams in the AL at run production adding the best-hitting second baseman in baseball to its lineup in 2014. Or, put another way, Seattle's second basemen posted a .214/.289/.330 slash line (batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage). Cano's was .314/.383/.516. This is a big upgrade for a team with deep pockets. They have plenty of offensive holes elsewhere to fill, but this is a splashy start.