While I wholeheartedly agree with you that Cano would be improved by better pitch selection I see him as a great choice for the #3 slot.

They always talk about how many more fastballs David Ortiz sees because he bats in front of Manny. Cano is the 2nd best fast ball hitter on the team (to Arod). I would love to see the kind of numbers he could put up in the 3 slot. Maybe move Bobby to the 5 slot.

Thanks for the link to the Kennedy article, Y’s Guy. I like the term “thinking man’s pitcher.” That’s probably why my husband likes him!

“Some celebrities are great at that, and I hope Crystal uses this special treatment for a greater good as well.”

You are right about this, and I do applaud the many who donate their time and money to charities. (And I do know that there are many who chose to go unpublicized in their efforts, and they deserve the most applause.) And I’m chagrined to say I didn’t even know there was a cancer blog, though I imagine there must be a blog for everything!

Wow – I didn’t realize Traber was that young – he seems to have gone through an awful lot already, based on the articles I read this weekend by Pete and by Ty Kepner. Good luck to him, he seems to be making a strong case to make the team!

I am really, really happy to see Ian Kennedy doing so well. My husband’s feeling all along was that he’d be the “sleeper” of the three young guys.

I have a question, though. When they talk about innings limits, do they take into account that some guys are able to get out of innings with fewer pitches as a general rule? Or do they just take some kind of league average? Because it would seem to me that a guy who is economical with his pitches should be able to pitch more innings.

For gawdsakes, start thinking like the Yankees beat writer that we know you are!

You tell us that Robbie said: “I don’t want to spend all my money going out in New York. That’s not for me.”

Think about it. That’s a direct attack on Derek Jeter; the team spirit is ruined and with it, any hope for unity, division title, or World Series.

Now you have to do a series of articles on the Jeter-Cano feud.

Compared to the other complainers and lazy pitchers we have…yes I’m looking at you Pavano, Igawa, Farnsy…why can’t you all take note? I was disappointed with CMW in the last PS but could never get mad at him. It’s like he’s part of the family.

I did NOT like what I read on Cano. The absolute LAST thing we need is for him to think he needs to hit more HRs. And as talented a hitter as he is, he is still NOT a high OBP guy. A #3 batter MUST be selective and have a good eye. With the cleanup hitter on deck, a walk is a fine outcome for our #3 hitter. That’s why Abreu bats #3, NOT because he hits HRs, but because he gets on base. That’s why Jetes is great in the #2 hole.

When JD is gone, Jetes leading off and Cano batting #2 might be good, but again, Cano MUST have a better OBP.
The difference between Jetes BA and OBP is almost 100 points. Same for Abreu. For Giambi, it’s usually quite a bit more, often 130+ points. For Cano’s career, it’s only 30 pts.

So as good as Cano hits, his career OBP is UNDER .350. Like Jeter (was) and Posada, Cano should be looked at as a doubles hitter with some pop, who might hit 20-30 HRs a year. The first thing we want to do is get him to be more selective, and maybe even stop swinging at pitches over his head. The LAST thing we want to do is mess with his swing by ‘expecting’ him to be a HR guy.

Futhermore, while he has decent speed, he runs ‘funny’, and I don’t believe he is a particularly good base runner. If he can improve his OBP to the .370 (or better) range, and be a bit more savy on the basepaths, he might make a dynamic #2 hitter. Until then, he is a fine #5 or #6 hitter.