Friday, April 30, 2010

Is it too early to start talking about Robinson Cano as an MVP candidate?

I'm going to answer my own question in the headline and say, yes, it's way too early to start talking about Robinson Cano as a candidate to win the 2010 AL MVP award. That being said, it's perfectly fine to say that he ought to be getting the AL Player of the Month honors, especially after a game like last night's win, where he hit two homers and made a nifty - make that amazing - defensive play.

If Cano were on most other teams, he would be the face of the franchise. But with the Yankees, he's just one of many great players (and one of the poorest paid, especially in the infield!)

John Sterling must have been going nuts on the radio during yesterday's game. Did he roll out any other calls for the second homer besides "Robbie Cano...Don'tcha know?"

Speaking of Sterling, Phil Mushnick slammed his ubiquity in all the White House photos:
Looking like a wax figure, Sterling was posed and positioned so perfectly and prominently in the Yankees/President photos and videos you'd have recalled that he made the catch on Bill Mazeroski to end the 1960 World Series, then, in 1996, sold his playoff seats to Jeffrey Maier's dad.

Even a fellow local team radioman couldn't resist comment about Sterling's intrusive presence. During Tuesday's Dodgers-Mets game, Howie Rose said he's going to take another look at his "Sgt. Peppers" album cover because Sterling, perhaps next to Marilyn Monroe, must be in there, somewhere.
Ha!

In other news, how about A.J. Burnett last night? Frankie Cervelli does a great job of getting the best out of Yankee starters, doesn't he?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

5 comments:

Uncle Mike said...

Let's be honest here: Baseball seasons are not decided in April. If they were... We'd be rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays to beat that Other Team in the World Series.

The last time the Yankees had a World Championship and an MVP in the same season was in 1962. It happened frequently before that, but not since. Ron Guidry got robbed in 1978 (seriously, how was Jim Rice more valuable than a guy who went 25-3 with half his wins coming after his team's losses?), Derek Jeter's been robbed a couple of times including last season, and you could make a case that Mark Teixeira was robbed last year as well.

But do we care about the MVP? Maybe we would, if our franchise had never, ever, EVER won an MVP. Don't believe me? Willie McCovey had a pretty good season in 1969, but was he really more valuable to his out-of-the-Playoffs team than Tom Seaver? Seaver probably got robbed again in 1973 (Pete Rose, Met fans must've looooved that), no Met was especially dominant in 1986 (so they gave it to Mike Schmidt), and in 2000 it went to Jeff Kent -- a Met who got away.

kcourtsclayton said...

I am new to this blog but I must say that I have quickly become a huge fan! I love and adore Alex Rodriguez so your always compelling defense of A-Rod is a thing of beauty!
Now, as for Cano--words cannot express how amazed I am watching him this year. He has always been a tremendously talented player with unlimited potential but at times his play could be chracterized as lazy. He is so locked in right now. I think that the added responsibilty of being the number five hitter, as well as the Melky trade has jolted Robbie into his current state.
I also adore AJ. I have always seen him as the underdog (as much as it is possible to be the underdog when you have an $82 million contract!) and I love to root for those guys. It gives me joy to see AJ do well and to watch his evolution as a pitcher (not just a thrower). Cervelli is a gem. Such an asset to the team.

Riddering said...

I believe Cano is making 9 million this year. So while that's cheap compared to his infield peers it's nothing to shake a stick at. He's the second highest paid 2B behind Utley after all.

It's early to call Cano an MVP candidate but he's been putting up numbers almost identical to A-Rod's April 2010. And while the Yankees don't need an MVP to get to and win the World Series or extend their francise it's always fun to watch a player have an MVP season, Uncle Mike. It's a long season and enjoying the journey to the postseason is 90% of baseball fandom.

Uncle Mike said...

A-Rod's April 2010? Are you sure you don't mean his April 2007, when he had the two walkoffs? (Home to Baltimore which I saw live, what a crowd eruption and I could see his wide-angle smile from the upper deck; home to Cleveland which I had to see on TV.)

Lisa Swan said...

Welcome, Kcourtsclayton, and thanks for the nice note!

And yes, Riddering, $9 million is nothing to sneeze at. Thanks for putting it in perpective (although it's still low compared to the rest of his infield!

Uncle Mike, I'll have to remind Squawker Jon of the lack of Mets MVP!

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