Robinson Cano, Yankees discuss 'significant long-term contract'

The Yankees and Robinson Cano are discussing a "significant long-term contract." (Al Bello/Getty Images)

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is engaged in "preliminary" discussions to sign a "significant long-term contract' with the team, according to comments part owner Hal Steinbrenner made to the media during the team's workout on Tuesday.

Steinbrenner said that those conversations happened before spring training and that there hasn't been a dialogue between the two sides since camp began. Cano, 30, is set to become a free agent following the 2013 season. His agent, Scott Boras, said that he indicated to Yankees brass that Cano would entertain any sort of lucrative offer New York has to offer.

Steinbrenner said in a report Wednesday from the New York Post that he hopes to keep Cano a Yankee for a long time:

"We expressed to Scott what a great Yankee [Cano] has been and we hope he continues his career here for a long time to come. We indicated to him on a very preliminary basis that we were willing to consider a significant long-term contract. Nothing has happened and there is nothing to report since then."