New York Mets will pay Robinson Canó six figures to beat them

By John D. Rushing Last updated Aug 21, 2022

The Atlanta Braves traded for Robinson Canó yesterday and today he will face the New York Mets. So the Mets are paying him to beat them today.

Yesterday, the Atlanta Braves made a trade with the San Diego Padres to acquire Robinson Canó… for the expensive sum of a dollar. Today, Canó is in the Braves’ starting lineup, hitting ninth at second base. Who are the Braves up against? Canó’s former team: the New York Mets.

As a result, the Mets are literally paying him to beat them in this series.

Mets pay Robinson Canó to beat them with Braves

According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the New York Mets are going to pay Robinson Canó six figures to try to beat them tonight. The Atlanta Braves, on the other hand, only pay him four figures to beat the Mets.

If my math is correct, Canó will earn $128,342 for every game he plays this series.

Of that, the Mets will pay Canó $104,545 to play against them. The Mariners will pick up $20,053 of the remainder, and the Braves, Canó’s current employer, will pay $3,743.

—Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 11, 2022

In total, Canó will earn $128,342 for each game in the series. The Mets will pay $104,545, or 81.5% of his salary. The Padres will pay $20,053 per game, or 15.6%, and the Braves will pay just $3,743, or 2.9%.

Canó underperformed in the majors earlier this season as in 24 games with the Mets and Padres he hit .149/.182/.189 with a home run, four RBIs and an OPS+ of 8, which means his offense was 92% below the league average.

He was better in the minor leagues since San Diego sent him to Triple-A El Paso as he hit .333/.375/.479 with three homers in 21 games.

Like Jon Heyman of The New York Post noted on twitter yesterday, however, the Braves are in desperate need of left-handed bats. Braves regular second baseman Ozzie Albies is a left-handed hitter, but he’s on the disabled list with a broken foot he suffered after fouling a foot ball on June 13.