Robinson Cano's first five years in pinstripes have placed him in the conversation when it comes to the game's elite second basemen, but as good as Cano has been, he knows that there's still plenty of room for him to grow.Cano is absolutely right, and I'm glad he realizes his game needs some work. The fact that he has guys like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to look up to doesn't hurt either. But the work his game needs didn't stop Brian Cashman from heaping a ton of praise onto his second baseman:
"I have a long way to go and a lot of things to learn," said Cano, who was tied for sixth in the AL with a .320 average last season. "You can have great seasons, but in baseball, you never stop learning."
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"If you want to be a superstar one day, you have to look at guys like him and Jeter, because they don't take anything for granted," Cano said. "Every year, it seems like they work harder."
"He's already one of the premier guys in the game, but that's the only thing separating him from taking it to a whole other level," Brian Cashman said. "If he can be more selective at the plate, he could have a Hall of Fame-type career."Mark Teixeira even got in on the action:
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"He's still young," Cashman said. "He really has a chance to make a name for himself that would last forever. That's the type of hitting talent he has."
"He has so much talent, it would be easy for him to say, 'I'm going to let my talent play and I'll have a decent year,'" Teixeira said. "But he wants to be one of the best - and he can be."As many people have said already, due to the loss of Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, the Yankees are going to need a big year from Cano. Even though the other day he told Bryan Hoch that he doesn't "see that as pressure," I think he knows how important he's going to be for that lineup this year. That's probably why he's so determined to hit better with men on and be a little more selective at the plate--the two areas of his game that need the most work.
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"The sky is the limit," Teixeira said. "I'm not overestimating it when I say he has the ability to win an MVP award. He's that good."
"I'm such an aggressive hitter, I don't want to take that away," Cano said. "I don't look for walks; I look for a pitch that I can drive. Learning to swing at strikes is something that will take time, but I'm trying to get better every single day."
And from the Hoch article:
"I would say that's one of the things that I have to work on," Cano said. "I'm an aggressive hitter, but I leave men on base. I've got to be more patient and swing at balls that I can drive."Cano has an amazing natural ability to hit the ball, with some work he could achieve all the things people like Brian Cashman and Teixeira are talking about. And who knows, maybe he will end up in Cooperstown, but that's way down the road. The only thing that matters for 2010 is if Cano can fix the issues that are holding him back. If he can then like Tex said, the sky is the limit.
