I'm Back and So is Cano

It's been a long time. Thanks for your patience. My trip to Japan went awry when I fell ill with a horrible, evil virus that can only be attributed to the Red Sox. I'm back in NYC, hard at work, and ready to head down the stretch until pitchers and catchers report in 20 days!

I'll get to Yu Darvish and the Yankees in good time, but the news that Robinson Cano is back in the fold (according to the NY Post) is a smart, smart move. It's hard to believe that the young man was only making $400k+ last season, but that's all now moot. 4-years at a total of $30 million averages out to a little more than $7 million per, by my math. Chase Utley just got 7-years at $85 million, which averages out to $12 million per. Brian Roberts is on a contract that pays him $7 million per. Jeff Kent averages about $10 million per on his current deal.

This is good business for the Yankees. By buying out his arbitration years, the Yankees are being fair with a player that stands to be the best or second best 2Bman in the sport for the foreseeable future. That means he can work with them on his FA years with a reasonable attitude. What he stands to become is worth the investment. If he ends up as the top 2Bman (at least in the AL) over the next 4 seasons, they have a bargain. I still stand on my prediction of a year ago that Cano could eventually hit as well as Don Mattingly, minus a little of the home run power.

For the record, and I'll harp on this a lot before the season starts, my perfect Yankee batting order for the upcoming season would look like this:

Abreu
Jeter
Cano
A-Rod
Posada
Matsui
Duncan
Damon
Melky

Cano deserves to hit in the 3-hole at this point, and Abreu (like it or not) should be at the top of the order with a .400 OBP and the ability to steal 20-25 bases. Damon is a shadow of his former self and would do better with less at bats. With more at bats, I expect Cano to do the 100-100 thing with 50 doubles and 20-25 homers. Let's make it happen Joe G.