Robinson Cano is coming off a mid-career skid in 2015 that elicited spiteful comments from former Seattle Mariners first base coach Andy Van Slyke in November.
Cano hit below .300 for the first time in six seasons while playing through a sports hernia that required offseason surgery as the Mariners finished 76-86—well below their preseason expectations as World Series hopefuls.
Cano's decline in production prompted Van Slyke to slam the star second baseman in a damning November interview with CBS Sports 920AM in St. Louis. Among the many insults he unloaded, Van Slyke called Cano “the most awful player I’ve ever seen.