Kuzul

The Yankees are on fire. After tonight’s win against Toronto, they are now 56-34, holding the best record in the MLB. Their current lead in the AL East is 9 games over Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

New York is coming off a month in which they went 20-7 and outscored opponents by 44 total runs. They are playing consistently well on the road (27-17) and at home (29-17). 

There have been several integral parts to the Yankee’s success. The veterans on their bench: Andruw Jones, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez, Chris Stewart and Dewayne Wise are all playing well. Girardi is doing a very admirable job managing a bullpen that lost Mariano Rivera to injury. The starting pitching has also been consistent recently.

The Yankees team ERA stands at 3.79, tenth lowest in the majors. They have the most home runs (144) and highest slugging (.465) and OPS (.802) in the MLB.

A big constant for their success has been the performance of Robinson Cano. He now holds a 20 game hitting streak. Here are some details of his streak according to Ray Monell of Yahoo Sports. 

Cano has amassed 32 hits in 77 at-bats (.416), as well as six home runs, six doubles and 20 RBIs during the streak (stat includes his two at-bats vs. Toronto through 5-1/2 innings), which began at Citi Field on June 24 against the New York Mets.

Cano’s hot play is not a surprise. He has set a bar as one of the best hitters in the game.

Here’s a look at his last 3 seasons.

• 2009: .320 AVG, .872 OPS, 25 HR, 85 RBI, 204 hits
• 2010: .319 AVG, .915 OPS, 29 HR, 109 RBI, 200 hits
• 2011: .302, AVG, .882 OPS, 28 HR, 118 RBI, 188 hits

He has become a model of consistency at the second base position, going to three straight All-Star games while also winning a gold glove in 2010.

Cano, a .309 career hitter, hits for average but he also provides great power. In his first seven seasons, he has hit 40 plus doubles five times and batted over .300 five times.

Not only did he combine for 82 home runs from 2009-11, but he also hit 135 doubles. He is an extra-base hitting machine that makes consistent contact.

Cano has become a focal point of a Yankee lineup that includes Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez.

In just 89 games this year, he already boasts a .321 average, .969 OPS, 27 doubles and 21 home runs. If Cano continues to play at this high level, he could very well challenge Mike Trout for the AL MVP this year. 

Moreover, if anyone can continue to build on a 20 game hitting streak, it’s Cano.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In the 2012 Home Run Derby, there was a big-time reaction for Home Run Derby captain Robinson Cano.  That reaction was filled with an array of boos from the Kansas City crowd.

Why the hostility for the second baseman? 

Well, he said he would pick a a member of the Kansas City Royals a couple of weeks prior to the event.  That guy would be All-Star Billy Butler.  The Royals DH was not chosen by Cano. 

This has happened before.  Last year, captain Prince Fielder received boos after failing to pick local hometown boy Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Now, commissioner Bud Selig said that the Baseball Writers Association of America will discuss a possible rule change to the anticipated event.  This rule will be for the captain to choose a player from where the Home Run Derby is being played.  In other words, a hometown boy.

Fans booing should not have such an impact on a decision like this.  Should Cano have not commented at all that he would choose a Royal?  Yes, but in the end, isn’t it his decision? 

Could the MLB have stepped in and held Cano to a higher standard to make sure he did pick Butler?  Yes, there is an argument for that as well. 

Players like Cano shouldn’t be booed like he was on Monday night, but he asked for it.  Does that mean the MLB should jump in and demand the captain to choose a local?  No, that isn’t very fair.

Fans buy the tickets, and they have the right to cheer and boo as they please.  Perhaps he would have gotten booed anyways for being a Yankee.  It comes with the territory, usually. 

So, with the festivities heading to Citi Field next year, would it be wrong for the Home Run Derby captain to not choose David Wright or a member of the New York Mets?  No, it should be their decision. 

These players are volunteering for the event.  They shouldn’t have to deal with many rules.  MLB guys are used to getting cheered and booed.  Quite frankly, they are athletes and fans show them positive and negative emotions.

While some don’t necessarily deserve the reaction they receive, that shouldn’t have any power on the future of the Home Run Derby.

Having a hometown player could be good for the sport and event, but is it coming along the wrong way?  This would be a decision of haste and reaction of Cano’s night. 

This story may not have been such a big deal if Cano hadn’t said anything in the first place.  Perhaps the clubhouses should tell their players to not make such promises if they can’t handle the negative reactions if they end up backing out of the deal. 

There will always be the risk of having a hometown player that won’t be considered worthy of the nod by many baseball experts and fans. 

The MLB shouldn’t make a decision like this based on one night. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Home Run Derby is arguably the most exciting part of All-Star weekend. There are eight players participating in the derby this year which pits team Kemp against team Cano. 2011 Home Run Derby champion Robinson Cano will be looking to repeat this season.

Each of the players participating in the Home Run Derby has shown off their power stroke this season, but not all of them have gotten a chance to play a game at Kauffman Stadium this year.

All of the players have their own strengths and power alleys that have worked for them this year, but that might just lead to some long outs in the Home Run Derby this year. Each graph of home runs hit by Home Run Derby participants from this year will also show an overlay of Kauffman Stadium to show if the ball would have left the park there as well.

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The following slideshow touts Fantasyland’s All-Star team for the month of June.

To clarify, the 27-man listing only honors statistics from the 30-day window for June and does not necessarily reflect a player’s status from April, May or the preseason.

The competition among outfielders and the corner infield spots was particularly intense.

And yet, this should hardly mollify the embedded masses crying foul over alleged snubs involving Brandon Phillips, David Price, David Ortiz, Mark Trumbo, Colby Rasmus, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kubel, Juan Pierre, Ben Revere, Josh Johnson, Wade Miley, Justin Verlander, Ryan Vogelsong, Scott Diamond, Clay Buchholz, Jonathan Broxton, Ernesto Frieri and Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster (not enough strikeouts), among others.

Enjoy the show!

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Ian Kinsler has played some impressive ball this season, but he should be nowhere close to edging Cano in the MLB All-Star vote this year.

In the latest report on the voting between the two players, the two were going at it for the starting second base position in the 2012 MLB All-Star game.

Not only would it be unjust to have the Texas Rangers‘ 2B top the Yankees second baseman in the votes for the American League starter spot, it would also be—to use ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith’s go-to word—blasphemous. Cano has the clear edge in the production between the two this season, has played much better as of late, and was the significantly better player last year as well.

When it comes to overall numbers, there is no contest between the two top-notch talents. Cano has posted the 10th-best average in the AL at .308 this season, while Kinsler bats just .277.

When comparing RBI and home runs, again there is no contest. Cano is up to 19 homers and 44 RBI while Kinsler has chipped in just nine home runs and 38 RBI for his Rangers ballclub. The 19 long balls for the Dominican sensation rank seventh in the AL.

Kinsler has had a fantastic season, and certainly a career-best run, but there is no questioning who the more talented, deserving player is to start for the All-Star team.

It is also interesting to note the burst Cano has put on display this past four weeks. In the month of June, Cano has racked up a whopping 10 home runs and 20 RBI and has batted .333.

Talk about impressive.

Kinsler has been solid, but nowhere near Cano’s June figures. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

You can credit the Yankees‘ recent surge to interleague play. You might argue that the long ball has paved the way to the team’s rise to the top of the American League East and the best overall record in the league.

And you have to tip your cap to the pitching staff, where the starters have been consistent and pitching deep into games while the bullpen has thrived despite the loss of Mariano Rivera.

For our money, however, the biggest reason the Yankees are streaking is Robinson Cano. He is the their most complete player, offensively and defensively.

He is their best hitter, the only one likely to finish with a .300 average. And yet Cano doesn’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to reaching the seats. He is second on the team to Curtis Granderson with 17 home runs. But while Granderson has sacrificed average for home runs, Cano was hitting .302 entering Tuesday’s game and appears headed for his fourth consecutive .300-plus season.

You can take any other Yankee out of the lineup, and manager Joe Girardi has options. Derek Jeter, you say?

After a phenomenal start, Jeter has come back down to earth. The Yankees might miss his leadership more than his bat.

Who, however, would they plug into second base for any length of time?

It’s a rhetorical question.

After a slow start in the first five weeks of the season, Cano has found his groove. It’s no coincidence that his resurgence coincides with the Yankees’ turnaround.

He has developed into one of the best all-around players in the game, with a picturesque swing and even disposition. He has overtaken Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers in the All-Star balloting. Kinsler is really the only other second baseman in the majors who comes close to Cano in talent. 

Cano is a gifted defensive player with a .988 fielding percentage and only four errors thus far. The best part for Yankee fans is that he is still only 29 years old and is in his prime. 

And he is durable. He missed only 12 games from 2007-11 and has played in every game this season. Don’t overlook that quality on an aging team where injuries are a price you pay for experience. 

For a franchise that seems to have abandoned the philosophy of developing their own players as the Yankees did with Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, Cano is a reminder of how patience can pay off.

We can see him moving to third base when Alex Rodriguez becomes a full-time designated hitter, but that’s a story for another day.

The Yankees are overpowering opponents right now and that approach will work in their quest to win the AL East and finish with the best record in the league. The playoffs are another matter. That’s when pitching tends to dominate and the Yankees won’t be facing anyone’s No. 4 or No. 5 starter.

That’s where Cano will be even more important. Hitting is not an all-or-nothing proposition for him as it is for Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Russell Martin and Raul Ibanez, among others. He still strikes out a little too much, but isn’t infatuated with the long ball. He saves that guilty pleasure for the All-Star game, where he won the Home Run Derby last season and will defend his title this season.

With Cano in the cleanup spot, the Yankees should be set for another half-dozen years. That’s provided they sign the Scott Boras client to a new contract. Cano is signed through 2013.

Chances are, even the new budget-conscious Yankees will ante up for their best player.

Tommy Heinrich was Old Reliable.

Jeter is the Captain.

Robinson Cano has become Mr. Indispensable.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After a miserably slow April that saw him hit just .246/.323/.389 with one home run and four RBI, Robinson Cano has really turned it on over the past two months.

In May, he improved to .312/.364/.606 with seven home runs and 19 RBI. Through 19 June games, he has improved even more, to a .319/.413/.681 line with seven home runs and 12 RBI.

Cano has been stellar since April. His lengthy hot streak has been one of the many reasons why the New York Yankees are now battling to stay in first place in the AL East.

That being said, he needs to be better—much better.

We’ve all come to expect great things from Cano. He has been an offensive force ever since he entered the league, and his .307/.348/.499 career line re-enforces that.

Racking up the hits has never been an issue for Cano, and driving the ball into the gaps to pick up a healthy number of doubles also isn’t a problem. Heck, even taking walks isn’t an issue. He’s already picked up 27 base on balls, more than his BB totals from the 2005, 2006 and 2008 seasons.

But, for some reason, Cano hasn’t been able to get it done when the Yankees need him most.

In games the Yankees have lost—that’s 28 games—Cano has hit just .229/.292/.394 with 25 hits, three home runs, nine RBI and a SO/BB ratio of 3:1 (24:8).

In the Yankees’ 49 victories, Cano is hitting .346/.417/.660 with 12 home runs and 26 RBI.

Now, I’m not blaming Cano for the Yankees’ struggles. He’s just one guy, and it’d be unfair to hold him accountable.

Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and even Derek Jeter need to pick up the slack along with Cano, as the team’s philosophy of “live and die by the home run” is not the most effective way of winning baseball games.

Cano’s numbers for the season are still solid, but they are not where he or the Yankees would like them to be. He’ll have to start hitting better when the Yankees really need him, or it could be another season in which the Yankees see an early exit from the playoffs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

2012 has been an up-and-down season for the New York Yankees thus far. Some players have been surprisingly hot, while some have been uncharacteristically cold. The team as a whole has gone on hot streaks and cold streaks as well, usually coinciding with the offense.

Players like Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Raul Ibanez have been red-hot to start the 2012 campaign, and are really the only reason that the Yankees have managed a 20-15 record at this point in the season.  

The heart of the order has stumbled out of the gate, as has the starting pitching staff as a whole, and when Mariano Rivera went down with a season-ending ACL injury, even the Yankees’ greatest strength, their lock-down bullpen, took a major hit.

However, as of late, things have begun to turn around for a handful of key Yankees figures. If these guys can keep moving in the right direction and pick it up, then things are about to heat up in the Bronx.

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It would be misleading to characterize second base as a position of scarcity in 2012.

Yes, there are no certifiable facsimiles of Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Rickie Weeks, Chase Utley, Ben Zobrist, Brandon Phillips or Dan Uggla after the first 60 picks of a 12-team, mixed-league draft.

But the entire Top 30 list is also chock-full of 25-and-under potential dynamos (Dustin Ackley, Jemile Weeks, Jason Kipnis, Jose Altuve, Gordon Beckham) and veteran stalwarts (Aaron Hill, Neil Walker, Kelly Johnson, Marco Scutaro, Sean Rodriguez) who are still in their prime years—and could break out with just a little good fortune, here and there.

1. Robinson Cano, Yankees 
Skinny: A lead-pipe cinch for 25 HRs/100 runs/105 RBIs/.305 BA over the next five seasons.

2. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
Skinny: The reasonable choice for fantasy owners who value power, speed AND high batting average.

3. Ian Kinsler, Rangers
Skinny: My personal favorite for this position—and that was before he racked up 121 runs last season.

4. Dan Uggla, Braves
Skinny: Fantasy owners in Round 4 are praying for 30 homers…and anything above .260 in hitting. 

5. Rickie Weeks, Brewers
Skinny: Let’s assume his 2010 numbers (29 HRs/83 RBIs/11 steals) are a baseline measure of production.

6. Chase Utley, Phillies
Skinny: A reputation pick here, and one that might look ambitious with Ryan Howard sidelined for a while.

7. Ben Zobrist, Rays
Skinny: The quietest 20-HR/100-run/20-steal potential of all middle infielders…and Big Z has OF eligibility.

8. Brandon Phillips, Reds
Skinny: A top-7 candidate for all five categories. Just don’t expect career marks in HRs or RBIs.

9. Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks
Skinny: Don’t be surprised if Roberts passes the 20-20 threshold at age 31. A great addition at Round 12.

10. Dustin Ackley, Mariners
Skinny: Ackley, who possesses the highest upside of anyone outside the top 8, has 15-40-.310 potential.

11. Howard Kendrick, Angels
Skinny: A slightly unfair ranking, given his solid 2011 campaign. Needs to crack 70 RBIs this season.

12. Jason Kipnis, Indians
Skinny: Kipnis is more Pedroia or Phillips than Uggla or Utley. Either way, he’s a long-term keeper.

13. Jemile Weeks, Athletics
Skinny: A dark-horse candidate for 85 runs/.310 average at age 25. Power numbers may never be there.

14. Marco Scutaro, Rockies
Skinny: Scutaro’s value will get a nice bounce around April 10, when he secures 2B/SS eligibility.

15. Neil Walker, Pirates
Skinny: The wild swings in batting average and run production can be frustrating. Don’t reach on Draft Day. 

16. Kelly Johnson, Blue Jays
Skinny: Two full seasons of middling batting average have diluted Johnson’s respectable power potential.

17. Gordon Beckham, White Sox
Skinny: Beckham has too many physical gifts to be this average in his prime. A solid late-round flier.

18. Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks
Skinny: Went on a hitting tear last year after being traded…but the odds of batting .300 for the season are long.

19. Danny Espinosa, Nationals
Skinny: Anything above a pedestrian batting average would boost him into the top 15—he’s that close.

20. Sean Rodriguez, Rays
Skinny: The 2B-SS-3B versatility opens doors for S-Rod. Can he be a steady 15-15 producer?

21. Jose Altuve, Astros
Skinny: A late-season find for the anemic Astros in 2011. Can he amass 30-35 steals in Year 2 of his development?

22. Ryan Raburn, Tigers
Skinny: Raburn needs a hot start to ward off slick fielders Brandon Inge and Ramon Santiago at the 4-spot.

23. Johnny Giavotella, Royals
Skinny: Could make a modest leap in this countdown with a productive spring. Intriguing prospect.

24. Daniel Murphy, Mets
Skinny: An under-the-radar talent who’ll bring modest value to all five categories—especially hitting.

25. Omar Infante, Marlins
Skinny: Expect a noticeable bump in runs…and then hope the versatile Infante flirts with .300 again.

26. Brian Roberts, Orioles
Skinny: In the realm of minor miracles, I’d be thrilled with 10 HRs, 75 runs and 20 steals.

27. Mark Ellis, Dodgers
Skinny: Ellis has 15-15 potential in the Senior Circuit, even at the ripened age of 34.

28. Orlando Hudson, Padres
Skinny: A nice deep-sleeper option for steals and runs—if the Padres get aggressive on the basepaths.

29. Mike Aviles, Red Sox
Skinny: The preferred fantasy placeholder over Nick Punto, while Jose Iglesias gets more seasoning in the minors.

30a. Darwin Barney, Cubs
Skinny: A last-round sleeper for the 2B/SS slot in NL-only and 14-team mixed leagues.

30b. Justin Turner, Mets
Skinny: Good minor-league numbers suggest a mini-breakout in the bigs. Could rise up the ranks during Grapefruit League play.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There are always arguments over who is the best at a certain position, but not many are as controversial as second base.

First, I would like to say that I am sorry to players like Ian Kinsler, Chase Utley, Brandon Phillips, Ben Zobrist, Howie Kendrick, Rickie Weeks and Dan Uggla, but by far the best second basemen in the majors are Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano.

Now that we have narrowed it down to two players, which is better? The only way to do that is to compare them head-to-head. To do that, we need criteria and those criteria are simple: batting average, plate discipline, extra base hits, power, speed, defense, arm and playoff performance.

Let’s begin.

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