Cano Works Hard for the Yankees - By: Ken Johnson

The Yankees have been valuing their teammate, Robinson Cano, and think he's capable of doing just about anything on the baseball field. There has even been talk of him being an MVP candidate. Despite a rough first half, he batted .306 with 19 home runs and 97 RBIs. He's also gained the confidence of manager, Joe Girardi, who's had Cano hit in the number 3 slot in spring training. Girardi thinks there's no play he can't make or ball he can't hit.

The Yankees signed Cano to a long-term, pre-arbitration contract this season. They don't necessarily need him to hit in the middle of the order. With all of their offensive stars on the team, he can move down the lineup without attracting too much attention.

Cano is a little more experienced than Joba Chamberlain, Shelley Duncan and Melky Cabrera, all though he has a thing or two to learn from Mariano Rivera. When Hideki Matsui, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi's contracts are up, the Yankees might consider him to be even more important. Cano hopes to improve his game in the future. He's already improved his defense from 2005 to 2006 and had shown better plate discipline last season by increasing his walks from 18 to 39. He hit .274 and .343 last year and his on-base batting percentage increased 200 points in the second half.

Getting off to a slow start last season made Cano work extra hard this season in an effort to prove that he can do better. He's 9 for 9 in Grapefruit League games which shows that his determination is paying off. Although, he probably needs the most help in the power of his swing with his home runs lagging a bit. Cano knows there's room for improvement and is working toward achieving his performance goals.

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