Know Thy Enemy: Second Base

Next up in our position by position debate, we are going to review second base. If you are just catching on we are beginning a debate on who has the better player at each position between the Red Sox and the Yankees. To be clear, this is not a debate on who has the better team, just the better player at each position. A debate on who has the better team would require much more than a position by position evaluation, and would take much more effort than my burgeoning social life would be willing to give. Having better players does not necessarily make you a better team. Just ask the Dominican team from the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Alright...Onto Second Base

Yankees Second Base

This spot is held down by Robinson Cano. Cano first started playing in the 2005 season when Tony Womack got off to a slow start. 2005 was a big year for Yankee fans who enjoy player development because both Cano and Chien-Ming Wang both came on the scene and showed why building your own players is the way to go. In 2006, Cano came in third place for the batting title after posting a .342 average with 15 homeruns and 15 homeruns. He also missed a solid month of that season with a hamstring injury. Last season he got off to a very slow start. If you know anything about Cano, its that he shuns walks, and the concept of a strike zone. But he began to get more patient and the results showed themselves. He batted .385 in July, .301 in August, and .333 in September to finish the season. He ended last season with a .306 average with 19 homeruns and 97 RBI's.

His defense wasn't bad either. In Cano's rookie season, he made a ton of errors, and it seemed that his size at such a slick position was a problem. Both the 2006 and 2007 seasons have ended that notion.

Red Sox Second Base

I was one of the many Yankee fans who though Pedroia was going to flop. He had this large uppercut swing, and he was balding at the age of 24. After he started playing however, he proved a lot of people wrong about him. He is a solid batter, who does not strike out much, and in his first big league season he batted .317 with 8 homeruns and 50 RBI's. He was a very solid fielder too making 6 errors all season. Although he's still balding, he's certainly proven that he belongs on the big league club.

Second Base Winner: Yankees. Although Pedroia is a better fielder than Cano, Cano isn't a dud either. Cano projects to continue to grow in power, and he's already proven that he can hit for average. Pedroia will probably bat for .300 next season, but I just don't see the kid batting for the kind of power that Cano will. Neither of them are threats on the base paths, so that's out of the debate. Cano has the kind of potential to go out and hit 25 homeruns and 100 RBI's next season. You can't say that for Pedroia.