New York Yankees News & Notes 3/2: Yanks lose to Phils, Cano focused on playing

Here we are Yankees’ fans, our second day into March and now less than a month until the season begins. Yesterday, the Yanks suffered a loss to Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies. While Hiroki Kuroda was tagged for four runs, only one was earned as errors led the Yanks to defeat. A few days after general manager Brian Cashman noted that the team had a “significant offer” for Robinson Cano, the second baseman said he’s not thinking about an extension. Cano noted that he’s focused on 2013 more than anything.

Hiroki Kuroda looked good in his outing despite the blunders from his defense. (Image: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

In his 2013 Spring Training debut, Kuroda lasted 1 2/3 innings before being pulled for David Robertson. In the 10-5 loss to Philadelphia, the Yankees committed four errors, two coming from Addison Maruszak. Home runs came off of the bats of Ronnier Mustelier and Melky Mesa for the Bombers. Juan Rivera, Francisco Cervelli and Cano all had two hits a piece for the Yankees.

Manager Joe Girardi commented on the Yankees’ fielding problems in Friday’s loss:

“I think we’re capable of fielding it better. We had four errors today, which led to a lot of runs for them. There’s a lot of young kids out there, and what we probably need to do is get them to relax a little bit.”

The Yankees sit at 1-7 in Spring Training and play their next game this afternoon against the Detroit Tigers at 1:05 PM EST.

Cano isn’t too worried about a contract extension at the moment. In a statement on Friday, Cano mentioned how he’d let his agent, Scott Boras, handle all the negotiations for his contract with the team. Cano faces free-agency at the end of the year and will be earning $15 million from the team in this final year of his contract.

On the situation, Cano had this to say:

“I’m going to say the same thing that I said the other day; I’m just focused on playing baseball. I’m going to let Scott and the Yankees discuss that. I’m not an agent. I’m just going to focus on playing baseball.

With many teams being conscious of how big extensions don’t usually pan out, the Yankees could offer Cano a five to seven-year deal that may deem appropriate for the 30 year-old. Cashman had no comments regarding Cano’s contract on Friday.