New York Yankees Editorial: The Bronx is Boiling — The Curse of Robinson Cano

By Wayne Cavadi |

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Oh Yankees fans. Saturday was not good. It has nothing to do with Michael Pineda tossing a stinker. He will be just fine. I know a lot of people are concerned with his innings, but it’s time for Pineda to throw together a full season and lead this team to the playoffs. A few bad games along the way won’t hurt.

Nor does it have to do with the fact that they lost a close game to one of the worst and least exciting teams in the American League. With Fernando Rodney blowing yet another save and raising his ERA to 5.59 on Sunday — which is just beautiful for a closer — the preseason favorites to take the AL West are about to become sellers at the trade deadline.

No, it has to do with the fact that the New York Yankees lost single handedly to Robinson Cano. You know, the guy that everyone loves to hate because he took a bigger deal? You know the guy that now has seven RBI in six games played at Yankees Stadium since leaving? You know, that guy I still wish was in pinstripes? The Bronx is boiling and I need to blow some steam.

Next: The Curse of Cano

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

THE CURSE OF CANO

I have been a Cano supporter since day one. I have taken a lot of heat for it right here on Yanks Go Yard, simply for stating an opinion (you know, the exact job I was hired to do). I have been called a moron, an idiot, and one time I remember being asked in the comments if I was drunk while writing about why the Yankees needed to re-sign Cano.

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Yankees fans are bitter towards Robinson Cano. They claim it was because he took plays off, that — like the great Yankees hitting coach Kevin Lo…. ok, I can’t even finish that phrase in sarcasm — he was lazy and showed no hustle. People said he wanted one of those long term deals and that he didn’t deserve it because he would never keep up the pace.

The bottom line was that Yankees fans were scorned by the fact that someone came in and offered more money to Cano and he actually took it. “A true Yankee would never do that”, some said. But he did, and many fans looked for every excuse to hate Cano, when to this day, despite not playing nearly as well, I still like the guy.

So, before you go off in the comments, let me address the comments I already know are coming, one by one with at least some rational discourse to defend my claims.

Next: Get over the 10 year/ $200-mill thing

Jul 8, 2015; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia (52) pitches against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

THOSE LONG TERM DEALS ARE NOT GOOD AND CANO WASN’T WORTH IT.

Here is some food for thought. Jason Heyward is expected to command no lower than $20-million next year and some project as high as $25-million. JASON HEYWARD. His best season was his rookie year, and he didn’t even win Rookie of the Year!

Is he a stud defender? Yup. Is he having a nice bounce back in St. Louis? You betcha. Is he worth a 10-year, $25-mill (average) a year contract? You are out of your mind.

But that’s the way baseball goes these days. Players get paid. Sure, some players like Mike Trout take the “high road” — or at least make it seem that way — and take the home town discount. That deal that Trout signed ends in his age-28 season. If he continues what he has done so far, he WILL sign one of those 10-year mega deals and undoubtedly become the richest player maybe in any sport.

Baseball is a sport without salary cap, and the Yankees have never been shy about spending money until Hank and Hal took charge. In the two years that Robbie has been gone, the play at second base has been atroscious.

Yankees fans claimed that when the Yankees let Cano walk it freed up money for the big offseason that brought in Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran and Masahiro Tanaka.

Last year, I had to defend Brian McCann to thousands of Yankees fans who called him a bum for producing the same numbers he has his whole career. Or essentially, McCann got paid for exactly what he was expected to do, and the fault was in Yankees fans thinking a 30-year old catcher would suddenly become Babe Ruth with a short right field porch.

Most fans want to see Beltran retire, and every time Tanaka takes the mound, we have to hold our breath and hope that this isn’t the outing his elbow actually falls off. Phew, glad the Yankees reallocated their money wisely.

Next: Cano isn't as bad as you want him to be

May 27, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez (34) and second baseman Robinson Cano (22) look on after he hit Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (39) (not pictured) with a pitch during the sixth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

CANO HAS BEEN TERRIBLE SINCE GOING TO THE MARINERS.

False. His power numbers digressed last season, but everyone knows — let me rephrase that, BASEBALL fans know — Seattle isn’t a place to go to hit home runs. Last season, Robbie slashed .314/.382/.454, all numbers higher or on par with his career numbers.

Everyone has a down season. This season, Cano has been mired in off field issues that he is apparently getting control of now. This month Cano is 20-for-60 (.333 batting average), with four home runs and 10 RBI. Cano hasn’t even had a bad season, he had a down three months.

Rob Refsnyder gets a pass because he is too new and his potential is very exciting, but that is all he is right now: potential. So much so that he only got four games to show what he could potentially do before being sent back down. Cano was established.

Of course, so was Brian Roberts. He was an established walking injury. Kelly Johnson was established as a guy better suited for third base or left field. Stephen Drew was established as a guy so far down his career transgressions that he couldn’t even hit his own weight, and still can’t.

Cano was established as the premier second baseman in baseball, playing on the single biggest stage in the sport. He has a World Series ring (which I am fully aware he didn’t contribute too much to) and a whole bunch of those All Star nods. In Major League baseball, when you are good, you get paid. The Yankees offered to pay Cano handsomely, but if you told me someone offered you $30 to $40 million more to leave your job and you wouldn’t leave, you’re lying.

Next: And how bout that defense?

Apr 24, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano (22) gloves a ground ball in the third inning against the Minnesota Twins at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

CANO WAS LAZY ON DEFENSE.

Maybe. Maybe he just played the game effortlessly. I can’t really say. I don’t know what went through Robbie’s head every time the ball came to him. What I do know is that he was not at all bad defensively, and that’s exactly what the Yankees have been in the infield since Cano left.

His last two seasons in New York saw Robbie commit 12 combined errors. That is four less than Chase Headley has committed this season, but no one gets angry that the Yankees pay this guy $13-million a year to do so and not even back up his poor play with his bat.

It is all relative, folks. People want to attack Robbie Cano for taking $24-mill a year from another team for proving he was one of the best second basemen in the game, but no one wants Headley’s job on the line. This is a guy making $13-million. That’s larceny for what he has done thus far in New York. But I digress.

Cano won two Gold Gloves in his time in New York. The second baseman’s range factor was higher than the league’s average for seven of his nine seasons in New York. Four of his nine seasons he finished with a better fielding percentage than the league average and in four of the seasons he fell short, he did so by .002 of a point.

Cano was an above average second baseman during his time in New York. He had a plus Defensive Runs Saved six out of his nine seasons with the Yankees and is a +20 for his career. Jose Altuve, who many consider the best second baseman in baseball right now, has finished in the negative, well below average for the past three seasons to put that in perspective.

Next: Cano should have never left

Dec 12, 2013; Settle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano (22) poses for a photo following a press conference at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Am I saying Cano is the greatest defensive second baseman in history? No way, but he is no worse than any of the other options that the Yankees have thrown out there. He is just more expensive… and when has that ever mattered to the Yankees before?

Now before you jump, I have read a lot of statistical analysis on sites such as FanGraphs (which I love as much as you) as you have, hinting at the 32-year old’s decline. But most of those articles are one of two things: estimations and sole player focused.

Some data shows that he is digressing in stats, but the contact rates are still there, leaving what to come for the rest of 2015 in a blurred state of confusion. Almost all of the data focuses on Cano’s 2015 struggles at the plate, but nearly none of them compare him to the improvement he would make over the players the Yankees have wheeled out in his absence.

Keep in mind that I thought, and still very much think, that the deal that the Mariners signed Cano to is outrageous. But in the grand scheme of things in how baseball contracts are working in the inflated, non-salary cap market, Cano did not get paid that much more ridiculously than what the Jason Kipnises and Altuves will be in line to receive when their day comes.

I know the Yankees are in first place, but again, it is all relative. The AL East is weak. They have the worst record of any first place team in baseball (as of Sunday). That’s not being negative, that’s stating facts. Would the Yankees be better with Cano? How the heck should I know, but they wouldn’t be any worse.

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