Albert Pujols if his contract negotiations aren't up to his lofty standards.

Josh Hamilton, another Angels signee, had a disastrous end to the 2012 season with Texas, hitting just .245/.330/.543 in the final month. He did hit 43 home runs, so it's not like the year was a waste, but the finish didn't inspire a lot of confidence moving forward.

Sure enough, in the first season of a five-year, $133 million contract. Hamilton had the worst season of his MLB career with a .250/.307/.432 line and 21 home runs in 576 at-bats.

Teams are paying more attention than ever to what happens with marquee players signed to massive contracts in the offseason.

Cano, meanwhile, didn't have a catastrophic collapse to end the season (Hamilton), nor is he coming off the worst seasonof his career (Pujols) prior to free agency.

In fact, 2013 was one of Cano's best seasons. His .314 batting average was his best since 2010, and his on-base percentage of .383 was a career high.

Since 2010, Cano ranks second behind Miguel Cabrera in FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement (25.4). The only other up-the-middle player in the top five during that span is Pittsburgh center fielder and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen (fourth at 23.9).

But you have to keep in mind what free agency is. All these numbers I am talking about are what Cano has done in the past.

Free agency pays you for what you will do in the future.

MLB teams tend to forget that, opting to pay players based on their past glory instead of examining what the