I can't wait to see the improvement of "Rod" Cano next season, His confidence reminds me a little bit of Soriano, but I think he'll wind up being a much better fielder with obviously less power. Still-his 14 home runs and 62 RBIs in 132 games showed us that he has some good pop in his bat, the kind of hitter that is a slasher. He stings the ball into the gaps and his 48 extra base hits proves that out.
At times he seems a little too relaxed and I wonder if that's just his nature, but what is impressive is the way he turns the double play. Cano is a natural at it and I doubt they'll be a clamoring for him to be shifted to the outfield because of his defensive lapses.
I remember when he was called up after the first thirty games or so. I thought it was a complete panic move for the Yanks. They were reeling and Womack had about as much pop as Fred Stanley did in the '70's. After a slow start, (he went 2-25) Robinson went on an eight game hitting streak going 15-34 and never looked back. What made me a true believer of this fine rookie was when he hit the wall in August. Cano was so bad (.207, going 23-111) that his average dropped over 30 points and he was moved from the two hole to the nine spot and looked completely lost. I thought the league might have caught up to him-the Yanks were in a tough race to even get into the playoffs let alone the division and my confidence was wavering on the kid.
What did he do in the month of September? He hit an awesome .384 with 43 hits and was key in getting us another division title. I'll predict right here, right now that he'll slash at least 25 home runs this year. Cano is yet another reason why this Yankee team might be the most fun one to watch since '98.
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