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.

Robinson Cano called deadbeat dad by son's mom

New York Yankees free agent Robinson Cano is embroiled in a child-support battle with the mother of his young son, who is hoping to drive up his relatively low $600-a-month payments to $25,000.

The All-Star second baseman, who made $15 million this past season, is often late with payments that go toward raising his 3-year-old son, Robinson Miguel Cano Castro, the child’s  Dominican mom, Jackelin Castro, told ESPN.

The 30-year-old Cano insists he’s paying the agreed-upon amount. But Castro says the payments are inconsistent.

Castro says payments for May and June were made on July 2, and July and August payments were made on Aug. 15.

“It’s like a crumb because I [have] to chase after that money,” Castro told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”

Cano hopes to receive long-term contract offers in the $300 million range as a free agent next season. And, even though $600 is a lot of money in the Dominican Republic — where the average yearly salary is $2,370 — but it's hardly comparable to Cano's salary. Castro’s supporters believe the child deserves more.

Castro’s lawyer, Wendy Diaz, said Cano should be paying closer to $25,000 a month.

“I believe the money he gives to his son, when he does, is not enough to feed the dogs of Robinson Cano’s house,” said Diaz.

Castro did not sign the deal, according to the report, but Cano has been making the payments. “The intention of him and his advisers was somewhat to intimidate me,” Castro said.

“His living circumstances, financially, socially and culturally, are very, very far from what the child’s experiencing and gets,” Castro.

Cano said he’s giving plenty to his kid beyond the monthly stipend.

“I have gone above and beyond to care for my child, including an agreed-upon monthly stipend, a house, a car, insurance, school and other essentials for the baby and his mother, as well as many other things including toys and clothing,” Cano said in a prepared statement.

Whenever an innocent child is involved — common sense sometimes trumps contracts.

Jay Z selling Nets share to head coach Jason Kidd: Report

It sounds like Jay Z is taking this whole sports agent thing pretty seriously. The entrepreneurial rapper is selling his minority ownership in the Brookyn Nets to head coach Jason Kidd, sources told Page Six of the N.Y. Post.

The sources claim Kidd will take over Jay’s .067 percent (1/15th of a percent) stake in the team for about $500,000.

The move comes as Jay was forced to sell his Nets shares over a conflict of interest after he started a sports agency, Roc Nation, signing clients including Yankee Robinson Cano and NBA star Kevin Durant.

"Other owners want to give Jason a part ownership of the team, and urged Jay to sell his shares to him," said the source.

Goodbye Brooklyn.

Page Six said:

Amazingly, Jay was introduced to the team in 2003 by Drew Katz, the son of one of the Nets’ principal owners, after Kidd, then the Nets’ marquee point guard, suggested the music mogul buy the team.

According to reports, Jay helped design the team logos and choose the Nets’ stark black-and-white color scheme, and personally appealed to National Basketball Association officials to drop their objections to it.

The Times reported Jay’s influence stretched so far, he courted top players to join the team and even counseled execs on music to play during games.

"He is it,” Bruce Ratner, the Barclays Center developer, said in an interview. “He is us. He is how people are going to see that place."

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov bought 80 percent ownership of the team in 2009 and appeared on billboards around the city with Jay Z.

Meanwhile, Kidd, who signed on as Nets coach in June, added to an impressive lineup including Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez. 

Unlike Jay Z, the coach owning minority shares in the team would not be seen as a conflict of interest.

A rep for the Nets had no comment, and Kidd’s spokesman, Nets VP of public relations Gary Sussman, also declined to comment. Reps for Jay Z didn’t get back to Page Six.

Yankee players make fake chalk outline of body mocking Eduardo Nunez's injury (VIDEO)

A day after Yankees infielder Eduardo Nunez fell to the turf in Toronto, a couple of his teammates made a tape outline of his body on the Rogers Centre infield before Wednesday night's game against the Blue Jays.

At the same spot where Nunez went down on the field, Vernon Wells and Joba Chamberlain made a mock chalk outline of the accident-prone infielder on the turf with athletic tape. There was also a wheelchair placed in front of his locker. Nunez laughed when he saw the wheelchair and immediately accused Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter of having something to do with the prank.

 "I think these guys have to be part of this," Nunez said. "For sure, I’ve got to find out. Do something, too."

"The video is funny," Nunez said of the clip (see below) of him falling down. "I know. Weird things happen to me all the time, I guess. Now it’s funny because I (didn’t) break my knee, but that wasn’t (Tuesday) night. Now I’m laughing."

The pre-game levity didn't last for long. By the end of Wednesday night, Nunez sounded more frightened than bent on prank revenge.

When Nunez tried to run in batting practice before the Yankees’ 7-2 loss to Toronto Wednesday night, pain flared up in his knee again and he was scratched from the lineup. Now he’ll be getting an MRI Thursday and the infielder is worried that he’s hurt badly enough that he could miss a few weeks.

That's no laughing matter to the depleted Yankees infield.

Robinson Cano: I'll be back from hand contusion 'maybe Friday'

The New York Yankees' quest to climb back into the American League wild-card race may have taken a huge blow, after second baseman Robinson Cano had to leave Tuesday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays with an apparent right hand contusion — after getting hit by a 90 mph fastball from J.A Happ. X-rays were negative and the team says Cano is listed as "day-to-day."

Cano told ESPN he'll be back on the field, "maybe Friday."

A-Rod to Cano: Field other offers and leave Yankees

Alex Rodriguez may not have a lot to say to Major League Baseball but behind closed doors, A-Rod is allegedly a regular chatterbox when it comes to giving New York Yankees teammate Robinson Cano career advice.

A-Rod has reportedly been spreading the word behind the scenes that Cano should give pause about re-signing with the Yankees and explore the free-agent market.

Sources told the N.Y. Daily News' Confidenti@l page that Rodriguez —who is appealing a 211-game suspension for alleged PED use —has been a fly in the ear of the free-agent-to-be, Cano — and told him to listen to other offers and sign with a different team.

The 30-year-old Cano — who will make $15 million this season — told pals he really wants to stay in pinstripes but might be asking considerably more than the Yankees are willing to shell out. The team in return is afraid of long-term boondoggle like the contract Cano's advisor, A-Rod, currently has.

Cano's contemporary, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia  — who just inked a seven-year, $100 million contract last month — might be used as a measuring stick to Cano's worth.

The Yankees certainly need Cano.  He was only one of two All-Stars (retiring Mariano Rivera is the other) on the aging and injured Yankees team looking to downsize their payroll and Cano would be the cornerstone of the franchise going into the next decade.

Cano and Rodriguez are close off the field, and Cano’s agents are Brodie Van Wagenen and A-Rod’s pal Jay Z, through the mogul’s firm Roc Nation. And Cano has never said a bad word concerning A-Rod throughout the Biogenesis investigation.

“We all know what kind of player [A-Rod] is, what he can bring to the game,” Cano told The Daily News in June. “He can change the game with one swing.”

Cano's representatives didn’t get back to Confidenti@l, but Rodriguez spokesman Ron Berkowitz says A-Rod plans to be with the Yankees for the four years left in his contract and “obviously would want Robbie right next to him. This rumor is 100% not true.”

And we know how certifiable A-Rod's camp is.

Robinson Cano leaves All-Star Game after getting hit by Matt Harvey pitch (VIDEO)

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano exited Tuesday night's All-Star Game in the first inning after being hit in the right leg by a 97 mph Matt Harvey fastball. He stayed in to run the bases but left one batter later. Here's the pitch:

Cano went to the clubhouse with the trainer. X-rays were negative and early reports say the Yankees star was hit in the quadriceps and not his knee — and he should be fine.

Yankee fans said "Whew!" “@Ken_Rosenthal: Told Cano got hit more in the quadriceps than the knee - and that he should be fine.”
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) July 17, 2013

Harvey was just as upset as Yankees fans about seeing his cross-town rival leave the game.

"I obviously feel terrible about hitting him," the Mets pitcher said. "That's the last thing you want to do in a game like this."

Cano came into the All-Star Game after playing every one of the Yankees 95 games this season — hitting .302/.386/.531 (150 OPS+) with 21 home runs. He has been the one constant in their lineup as Derek Jeter (ankle), Alex Rodriguez (hip), Mark Teixeira (wrist) and Curtis Granderson (hand) have spent most of the year on the DL.

Cano really doesn't like sharing his side of second base

Robinson Cano didn't look too pleased when Eduardo Nunez crossed over onto his turf while fielding a an popup Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees second baseman stood with arms crossed, staring at the shortstop looking like he was saying Stay on your own side.

After an exchange of glares and a few flips of the ball — there were smiles all around.

Cano and Nunez show off interactive dance moves with hospitalized kids (VIDEO)

Robinson Cano and Eduardo Nunez tried their best to copy dance moves from an interactive game during a visit to Ronald McDonald House in New York City on Tuesday. The teammates were there with other Yankees players donating pillows to hospitalized children for Hope Week.

The Yankees' current shortstop-to-second base combo couldn't keep up with the dancing kids doing what looked like a mix of polka and the Chicken Dance.

Cano did more watching than dancing but seems to be enjoying himself almost as much as the jubilant children.