Yankees: Their Top Five second basemen over the last half-century

Don’t cha know…………

The brooding face of Robinson Cano aptly fits his tenure with the Yankees. But before we go any further with this, let’s look at the numbers he produced.

In nine seasons with the Yankees from 2005-2013, Cano finished second in the balloting for Rookie of the Year in his inaugural season and was chosen as an All-Star five times.

He hit .300 or better five times in a Yankees uniform and scored 100 or runs in a season in four consecutive years. He also fielded his position flawlessly.

And yet, there was something about Robbie Cano that didn’t sit right with Yankees fans and, ultimately, the front office when they “let him go” to the Seattle Mariners not believing that he was worth the $240 million the Mariners signed him for.

History will decide the outcome of that contract, but in the immediacy of the decision the Yankees were faced with, the common belief among Yankees fans was that Cano played baseball with a nonchalance that irked nearly everyone.

Blessed with immeasurable talent, Cano could be seen in the field barely nipping a runner at first base with an underhand toss on a play that usually would have beaten the runner by three steps to the bag.

Witness here this video in which Cano did not run out of the box……

Nevertheless, baseball rewards numbers and even some of the nastiest characters like a Ty Cobb make it to the Hall of Fame. And even Cobb, in later years, had those fangs removed by some generous writing.

Cano had the numbers and deserved a ranking at or near the top of the Yankees best second baseman over the last fifty years.