In all the Robinson-Cano-to-Seattle chaos on Friday, this much is clear: the Mariners upped their offer despite already being the highest bidder by $50 million. Now, this, from the Dallas Morning News's Evan Grant:

By mid-day Friday, Seattle had heard that some team bid nine years and $225 million for Robinson Cano, so the Mariners upped their bid to $240 million and 10 years before apparently realizing the initial bid had come from themselves, too.


[Update: Grant says it was "tongue-in-cheek."]

That dastardly Mystery Team at it again.

Grant Brisbee, who first caught this, thinks it has the ring of apocrypha. But it's not inconceivable, right? The M's offer Cano something shy of nine/$225M. It gets reported everywhere that Cano has nine/$225 on the table. Wires are crossed, the Mariners are convinced that someone's offered it to Cano even though it's their original offer misreported, and decide to beat it.


Maybe it's not true. The world becomes a better place if we all agree to believe it is.

[Baseball Nation]