By now you've probably read John Harper's column detailing Kevin Long's views on Cano (which are largely positive) and Long's attempts to get him to leg out automatic outs. When I first read it, I thought to write a post about it but ultimately didn't feel like it was worth it. He plays for the Mariners now, so who cares?
Now that Long's comments have been addressed by Seattle Manager Lloyd McClendon and have thus continued to enjoy the light of day, I thought I would point out how incredibly petty it is that anyone is still talking about this.
Running out grounders? Really? Who cares?! Cano was our best player on both sides of the ball and I cannot think of a single game where I thought to myself, "man, we would've won today if only Cano had run out that ground ball." He's now Seattle's best hitter and defender, and so whether he runs out grounders has almost nothing to do with us.
Increasingly, the Cano running out grounders obsession is the Yankeedom equivalent of fans of other teams pointing out how limited Jeter's range in the field is. Yes, Jeter has not had great range for some time, but I can't think of too many games (none, in fact) where I thought to myself, "man, if Jeter could range three more feet to his left, we would've won that game."
You know what Jeter does? Play baseball consistently well. You know what Cano does? Play baseball consistently well.
If Cano routinely jogged out potential stand up doubles, then I agree that there would be cause for disappointment. Last year, anyways, he's not on the team anymore. Also, he led the team in doubles in 2013, so there's that.
I get that nothing is happening with this team right now but that baseball writers for New York publications nonetheless have to write about something. I get that there are only so many stories you can write about Masahiro Tanaka wearing a surgical mask to the airport before you start to sound racist. But come on, the whole Cano thing is steeped in racism, and regardless, is completely stupid.
How many games did you want Cano sat because of his lack of running out grounders? None? Then STFU already!
3 comments:
Imagine how much Cano would be paid if he cared about playing the right way. Billions, maybe trillions of dollars.
He had an offer from the Yankees for $240 Quadrillion on the condition he would run hard every time out of the box, but he turned it down because Seattle said he didn't even have to show up to work if he didn't really want to.
Figures. Seattle is a more laid-back environment than New York.
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