Thursday, July 8, 2010

Should The Yankees Have Pulled The Plug On Cano?


Despite all of the inane hoopla with Joe Girardi and the AL All-Star selections, one thing is for sure… Robbie Cano more than deserves to be the starting 2nd baseman.

Making his first all-star team is a thrill enough, especially as a starter… but Cano was looking to really get a charge out of the experiance and participate in the Home Run Derby, which is a lot of hype and a lot of fun for everyone. Cano was excited to do it and looked very forward to it.

That is, until the Yankees removed him from the Derby… without his knowledge.

The All-Star Home Run Derby gets a lot of attention… not only because of the hype surrounding it, but because of the ongoing theory that many participants (especially winners) screw up their swings for the second half after it. Whether this is true or not is pretty inconclusive, seeing that some have had 2nd half droughts (Bobby Abreu, Josh Hamilton for example) and other’s have had not (Prince Fielder, Jason Giambi for example).

Cano found out last night he was no longer participating when reporters looking for a quote to how he felt being scratched from the Derby surrounded him.

Cano told ESPN New York: “To be honest, I was upset,” Cano said. “You guys are talking to me and I don’t know what is going on.”

So while it was reported that Cano pulled out of the Derby due to some minor lower-back pain, Cano confirmed he did NOT pull himself out, and it seems the Yankees did it for him.

The Yankees are notorious for not wanting their players to participate in the Homerun Derby… A-Rod being the most glaring of omissions. He has not been in a home run derby since joining the Yankees in 2004.

So now, they are using the “back pain” issue as the reason they took their 2nd basemen out of the derby without his knowledge, something that seems to have disapointed Cano greatly.

It seems to me that Cano suddenly having a back issue after being healthy all year is quite convienant. While I understand the Yankees can hardly risk losing Cano for an time, they cannot really expect anyone to believe this is the real reason. If they were THAT concernd about his back then why would Cano be playing in the game at all? Wouldn’t they want him to get the four days rest like Mariano Rivera is doing if there was really a back issue?

I think the Yankees just don’t trust Cano to not screw up his swing like others may (or may not) have done in the past after being in the derby. Looking back on his perceived lack of maturity in the oast, their fear may be founded… however removing him from something he so obviously wanted to be in and without him being part of the decision is wrong. The lack of communication is something you’d expect from the Mets.

In any case, what do you think? Should Cano have been left to his own devices? Did the Yankees make the right move? Was the whole thing bungled?

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