Tuesday, February 18, 2014

IT'S A LONG WAY TO FIRST BASE

     The one thing that always bothered me about Robinson Cano, is that he refused to put a lot of effort into running out ground balls. In fact, sometimes he put forth almost no effort. Occasionally, it would bother me so much, that I would scream "RUN, WILL YOU?" so loud that Annie-O would come trotting into the living room with a startled look on her face. "What's the matter? What do want?" "Oh, not you. It's that lazy Cano again."
     I always wondered why Girardi never benched Cano after one of his leisurely strolls down the line. Or that the Yanks never announced a fine. Sometimes Girardi would say they had spoken to Robbie, but it never seemed to do any good. The only explanation I could come up with, was that Cano was in his contract year and they didn't want him to become unhappy with Girardi or the Yankee front office. And where was the Captain, Derek Jeter, in all this.
     Well, now he's gone, and people are starting to open up. Kevin Long says he had been pushing Cano to run hard or at least put out more effort when running out ground balls, but he couldn't  seem to make any headway. It seemed to be Cano's only flaw, and with the Yanks struggling so much last year, it seemed to be a low priority item to be harping on.
     Sportsnation ran a poll asking if players jogging to first base bothered you. Out of 90,000+ votes, only 47% said it bothered them, which I thought was about half of what it should be. Billy Martin, for example,  would have given Cano an excuse for running slowly by constantly kicking Cano in the shin until he began to realize that he should run harder. Of the 2200+ that voted in Washington state, only 540 people (24%) thought it was a problem. I'd like to see this poll run again this October and see what the Mariner fans think about this after watching him perform his waltz down the line for 81 games this summer. Even the manager in the movie  Bull Durham would have called Cano a "Lolly-gagger."

A note to the Yankees: If you're still not sure if Jeter can handle shortstop, and you're worried about the continued health of Brian Roberts, not to mention the offensive inabilities of Kelly Johnson, I remind you that Stephen Drew is still available. Not only could he take over for Jeter, but he could also handle 2nd or 3rd if needed, and he has played some 1st base. You already know you're gong to need a new shortstop next year anyway.
Sign him!

CP-
 

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