David Ortiz on Cano contract: I would give him $500 million

Big Papi thinks Robinson Cano deserves a big payday.

"I would give him 500 million," David Ortiz said with a smile Thursday of the rumored $300 million-plus the Yankees second baseman is seeking. "He deserves it."

The Red Sox slugger, a friend of Cano's, was joking. Wasn't he?

The Boston designated hitter believes Cano, who will turn 31 Oct. 22, should cash in big on the free-agent market while the going is good

"Good players deserve to get paid," Ortiz said after his team's workout at Fenway Park. "He's one of the top three players in the game, so somebody's going to have to."

Asked if he can picture Cano in a different uniform, Ortiz said "it might happen," but he believes the Yankees will ante up for their only real All-Star.

"Every team needs a player like him," Ortiz said. "I definitely believe the Yankees are going to come through. You don't let players like that go. That's a keeper. But you never know. The game is crazy. There's a lot of teams out there with money chasing players like that."

Cano is believed to be looking for a contract of eight to 10 years. The Yankees, already burdened with long-term deals with old and injured stars like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia, want to avoid that kind of commitment.

Ortiz said Cano is worth both the money and the years.

"At the end of the day, can you expect production from Cano for the next 10 years?" asked Ortiz. 

"Yes. Cano makes the game look too easy. I hit the ball so hard toward him this year, and it was like he was expecting it. He anticipates the way you are going to hit, he knows the hitter's swings. He is an extremely smart player. I have never seen a ground ball go by him."

Ortiz's teammate, Dustin Pedroia, signed an eight-year, $110-million extension in July, the kind of deal the Yankees would do with Cano in a second. Pedroia and Cano are widely considered to be the top second basemen in the American League, but Cano is looking for far more money.

"Those are two different players," said Ortiz, who declined to speculate how Pedroia's contract might impact Cano's. "I don't think you can compare them [to each other]. They're good at what they do individually."

Cano hit .314 with 27 homers and 107 RBIs with a .383 OBP and .899 OPS in 160 games. He hit .329 against righthanders and .291 against lefthanders.

"I wouldn't be surprised if next year if the whole Yankee lineup is healthy, he ends up being the batting title champ," Ortiz said. "It wouldn't surprise me because that's him, he can hit against anybody. Lefty, righty, he has no weakness."

I think I just heard Hal Steinbrenner say Shut up.

Hal Steinbrenner says Yankees 'need' A-Rod, but he must 'act professionally'

Hal Steinbrenner ignored the pink elephant in the room when asked questions about Alex Rodriguez's looming 211-game suspension and legal woes with Major League Baseball. But the New York Yankees owner said he made it clear to his embattled third baseman about the team's expectations when he donned the pinstripes once again.

“Look, as I told him when I talked to him in Tampa, we need him. We do. That’s just obvious,” Steinbrenner told the N.Y. Daily News before Tuesday’ game against the Angels at Yankee Stadium. “We’ve still got our injuries and my hope is that he comes back and continues to improve and stay healthy. He has to perform, and he has to act professionally.”

When we last heard from Steinbrenner discussing the A-Rod situation back in June, he acknowledged "there have no doubt been times that we’ve been disappointed" in A-Rod since he signed his $275 million contract in 2007, adding that the organization wanted Rodriguez “to act like a Yankee” if and when he returned to the team.

The three-time AL MVP played in his seventh game Tuesday following offseason hip surgery and since MLB slapped him with a ban last week that was intended to cover the remainder of this season and all of 2014 for the 14-time All-Star's involvement in the Biogenesis/PED scandal. Because he was suspended under the joint drug agreement in the CBA, Rodriguez is eligible to play until his appeal his heard.

“I’m not going to get into that, at all. We’re just waiting to hear the way everybody else is,” Steinbrenner said.

When asked if he’s disappointed that A-Rod and other past and present Yankees — including Francisco Cervelli — who accepted a 50-game ban — have been linked to PEDs, Steinbrenner added, "Like I said, I don’t have any comment on it."

As for Yankees' disappointing showing so far this season — they were 61-57 and 5.5 games out in the race for the second wild card berth in the American League, but have won 4 of the last 5 on the current homestand —  Steinbrenner pointed to the unusually high rate of injuries his high-priced team has endured all year.

"It’s bad policy to lean on excuses, but it’s also bad policy to ignore the facts. We’ve had at least 15 different guys on the DL, several of them multiple times. It’s mostly been on offense. When you’re playing with those kinds of injuries it’s tough to play against teams that are fairly healthy. That’s just a fact,” Steinbrenner said. “But I will say the (recent 2-6) road trip was very disappointing to me."

Like it or not, it sounds like there's a pinstriped elephant in the room now.