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| Robinson Cano and Victor Cruz's now official connection to Jay-Z could be huge for Giants and Yanks. (Credits: Jesse E. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) |
Jay-Z is not a businessman as he claims, but a business, man; and he's always been interested in sports, but his sports business interests only became reality nine years ago. Now with a cocky 1.5%(or whatever small number) stake in the Nets, he thinks he's become a multi-sport mogul. After overhyping his Nets squad early on in the season, Jay has decided to try his hands at other sports, but this time in a different way. And yet unlike the negativity he's tried to bring upon the majestic and storied New York Knicks franchise, his next business opportunity could have a major impact on the great Yankees and Giants franchises.
As he put it, "He can make a Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can," and "That he bleeds blue." Well now Jay-Z's representation of two of these franchises key pieces might do wonders for those teams he brags about.
His first signee was Robinson Cano, unarguably the best player on the Yankees and clearly a player the Bombers would want to build around. Cano dropped agent Scott Boras, a vicious negotiator, in favor of Hova which right away seems like a pro-Yanks move. I'm sure Cano was looking at a silly contract somewhere around the 10-year/$220 mark which would put the 30-year-old at around $20 million a year until he was forty, most likely years out of his prime at that point. With Boras' reputation and the Yankees endless cash flow, that estimation might even be underplaying the hardball agent. A deal of such monster magnitude over such a long period would push the Yanks payroll well over $200 million to seemingly immeasurable heights.
HOV's next client is Victor Cruz, who burst onto the scene with two big seasons in the last two years totaling over 150 catches, 2,500 yards and a playmakers worth of 19 TDs. In Cruz's emergence we've seen him become a full-blown speedster, who can turn a 10-yard catch into a 70-yard TD in a split second. Of course he's finished those TDs with his patented and much beloved salsa dance. However, recently we began to see the New Jersey native throwing up the Roc sign more and more often. Simply thinking it was a gesture of representation to his Tri-State area roots, we couldn't have speculated that he'd soon join the Roc-A-Fella team. With his ties to IMG and agent Tom Condon severed, you could possibly expect his alleged desires of $10-$11 million a year dip back towards the $7 million annually the Giants have reportedly offered him.
You're probably asking yourself how exactly these deals will bode well for both the Yankees and Giants? Of course, HOV has a history of being a phenomenal negotiator with several successful business ventures as well as a reported worth of over $500 million, so why wouldn't he want the same for his new clients? That's because the money will come from elsewhere.
I don't see Roc Nation's inking of Cano and Cruz as a much of a "representation" thing as much as an "association" thing. What does that mean? Well, it's my assumption that when you join "La Familia" as Hova so eloquently puts it you actually become a part of the business family as well. With Jay-Z presumably as a business associate as on top of being an agent he will be able to get these teams the right deal without sacrificing money for his clients. Yeah, Cano might only get a 7-year/$140 million dollar deal and Cruz might only get $7 million a year, but that doesn't mean they're not going to make the money they currently desire. If HOV gives them a piece of the company pie then it will be a win-win for the player and these New York's franchises. In the spirit of the Empire State of Mind, Jay would be doing quite a service to the city by fronting the money elsewhere allowing the Yankees and Giants to regain the glory that each franchise is slowly losing at the moment.
Everyone knows what assuming does to you and me, but there's something about the way HOV has operated over the past few years related to sports. If this situation works out for the Yankees and Giants then I don't see why it couldn't help these teams down the road with other athletes.
Remember: The Dynasty. Roc. La Familia.
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