Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Today in the Journal News on May 29, 2010 
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Robinson Cano stepped into the cleanup spot last night and delivered the third grand slam of his career, lifting the Yankees to an 8-2 win against the Indians. Phil Hughes pitched seven strong innings and picked up his sixth victory.
Curtis Granderson was back in the lineup for the first time in almost four weeks, and to make room for him the Yankees designated Randy Winn for assignment. The notebook also has items on Jorge Posada, Alfredo Aceves, Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli.
Since I was just surfing Cot’s looking at another contract, I decided to look at Cano’s:
10:$9M, 11:$10M, 12:$14M club option ($2M buyout), 13:$15M club option ($2M buyout)
That is turning into a very shrewd move by Cashman.
The Following people submitted lineups for GTLU so far this morning:
whoever
Mark in Tampa
Trevor
Fran (the original)
Yea pretty good deal for the best 2B in the AL and possibly soon in all of baseball. (JMO but he’s gaining in Chase)
SS Jeter
CF Granderson
1B Tex
3B Arod
2B Cano
RF Swish
C Cervelli
DH Miranda
LF Gardner
Nick Swisher is a totally different player than he was a year ago. The swing changes and him being in better shape have totally changed his value as a player.
He’s gone from a guy with a little power, a good eye, and somewhat of a defensive liability to a a guy who is a real threat at the plate and a pretty solid defender.
Both he and K. Long should be commended.
Cano was the perfect clean up batter last night. The Yankees asked more fromCano , and he’s stepped up this year is remarkably.
bosox back to 6.5 GB and 4th, this is a good thing!
Doreen,
Good Morning. Here is my GTLU submission for today.
SS – Jeet
RF – Swish
1B – Tex
3B – Arod
2B – MVP
CF – Granderson
DH – Thames
C – Cisco Kid
LF – Russo
Thanks again and I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend.
Some pretty good articles from John Nalbone with the Trenton paper, including one on brandon Laird and another on Jeremy Bleich’s season ending injury.
http://johnalbone.wordpress.com/
Moeller did his job. He handled Hughes, Mitre, and Park very well and gave Frankie Cervelli a breather.
Alex was rested and the Captain will get some rest over the weekend or at least DH.
Joba and Mariano should get some work today to keep sharp.
SS-The Captain
RF-Swish
1B-Tex
3B-A-Rod
2B-MVP
DH-Thames
CF-Granderson
C-Cervelli
LF-Gardner
Chad Moeller is the only Yankee to face David Huff, today’s starter for Cleveland and is 1-3 against him. Not sure if Pena, Russo and Vervelli faced him in the monors.
***minors***
“Yea pretty good deal for the best 2B in the AL and possibly soon in all of baseball”
Prior to this year, Cano and Utley were not comparable, even though their numbers weren’t too different. Utley was the kind of hitter who could drive the lineup and carry a team, Cano was a complimentary hitter, with questions about how he would handle more responsibility in the lineup.
Obviously, Cano is changing that this year. He is the most dangerous hitter in the best lineup in baseball. If Tex did not have the track record/contract he does, Cano would be batting third. As it is, I could see them doing something to move Cano up a bit to try to get him a few more ABs per week. He is that kind of player now.
Mark,
Agree
Proof that epic slumps happen to the best of them:
Pedroia is 9 for his last 60.
Just like Jeter, that guy plays through pain and would never admit that it affects him.
If Pedroia’s playing in pain, it’s only “little” pains.
Maybe they’re growing pains.
Looks like Pedroia’s having the same trouble in his 4th year, just like Cano did. Must be laziness.
I bet my friends at work Cano would be MVP before this year and he’s off to a good start. Could you even possibly imagine his numbers if Tex and Arod were having normal years. I just hope if they start hitting Cano stops since his pace really seems unsustainable. We’ll see, go Robbie.
Good to see that Hughes recognized that the Indians were having a tough time with his fastball and didn’t want to speed their bats up by throwing too many cutters.
His cutter is always going to be better used as a compliment to his plus 4 seamer…always nice when a 23 year old is aware enough and not too stubborn to make adjustments. He’s going to be special folks.
Not to be a I told you so guy but I have been saying for 2 weeks now that Cano would be fine in the clean up spot protecting Arod at 3. I like Swisher at 2 but if it’s Grandy for now then fine.
I would still like to see how this line up does until Jorge comes back:
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Arod 3B
Cano 2B
Tex 1B
Granderson CF
Thames/Miranda DH
Cervelli C
Gardner LF
Post Posada return:
Jeter
Swisher
Arod
Cano
Tex
Posada
Granderson
Thames/Miranda
Gardner
GTLU is Closed. Lineup is up on Twitter.
Thanks for playing.
“Maybe they’re growing pains.”
LOL
Blake
Somebody else posted the other day how Swish has improved every facet of his game. I agree, he’s not the same player he was when he got here.
I wouldn’t say Cano is on an unsustainable pace. He is hitting .351 now, he hit .342 a few years back. Last night was his first HR in nearly a month, so he is not on an unusual roll. His RBIs would be even higher if 3 and 4 were on base for him, and about where they would have been last year if he was just OK with RISP.
Does anybody else get annoyed by ESPN and other teams annoouncers re: Cano? Every broadcast, they make a prediction that Cano ‘might someday win a batting title’ like it is some kind of fantastic revelation that only they can figure out. Do they not realize that in ’06 he was right there with Mauer and Jeter for the title? If he goes 3 for 4, Mauer 1 for 4, Canop would already have a batting title, so it isn’t some great prediction like they make it out to be.
YankeeRay
Agree 100%. That’s my line-up as well.
Tarheel,
Being in better shape just helps everything. His swing is so much shorter and compact this season…its allowing him to wait longer to commit to pitches. He’s one of the best RF in baseball right now.
blake
Do you remmber last year he started working with Eiland ( I think it was Eiland) on his throws from RF. To me that was the first indication that maybe he was going to work out as more than just a bench player for the Yankees.
One of the league’s best power hitters is a 1B!!!
Damon can’t throw the ball far. Both Robby and Arod are infielders with a lot of power.
If you want to say that outfielders have to throw the ball further and therefore develop better arm strength, I submit to you Johnny Damon vs. Robby Cano. and Arod.