In George We Trust
A(nother) blog about the most storied franchise in sports
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Flash in the Pan?
Bryan Smith over at the great Baseball Analysts blog takes a look at the top 20 sophmore players for 2006. Robinson Cano checks in at number 16:

Both at Baseball Prospectus and BTF, Cano was given about a 10% chance to turn into Hall of Fame baseball player. This is because what he did last year was remarkable, stepping into baseball's largest stage and taking the spotlight off a position that has caused the Yanks so much grief. Cano is another player that I obviously underrated too much as a prospect, not taking his 100 RBI+ season into enough consideration. But, really, is Cano's ceiling much above his performance in 2005? Do we really see a player that even has the possibility to be better than [Rickie] Weeks? Not for me, at least, as I believe Cano will teeter-totter among being an average second baseman for as long as the Yanks let him.

While Cano's glove may never be anything to write home about (although he is working on improving his defense), of all ML second basemen, only 3 had a higher batting average in 2005 than Cano. He was also in the top ten in doubles, HR, XBH, SLG, and total bases amongst those manning the 4 position. Impressive considering he didn't see his first game until more than a month into the season. With Luis Castillo having to adjust to new pitchers in a new league, and Brian Roberts possibly starting the year on the DL, there's a good chance Cano will be one of (if not the) most production 2B in the game next season.
Written at 8:15 AM by Mike A.
2 comments
2 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Outside of maybe the writers who cover the Yankees' system, no one had anything good to say about Cano. And no one expected anything of him when he came up. So now they want to deny he's any good. He still has to "prove" he's not a fluke. They say the same thing about Wang. And Small. And even Chacon. Hell, they even say this about Farnsworth's '05 numbers.

It was obvious from spring training that Cano could hit. And I think he'll put up comparable numbers this year: about the same average, slightly higher OBP (but not by much, because he'll probably still be a free swinger), with some more home run power.
9:50 AM  
Blogger B said...
To say nothing of the likelihood that Soriano will not be playing second base.
9:43 PM  
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