WHY CANO KNOWS MVP

ESPN did an interview with Robinson Cano and asked him about the MVP award. Sure, he could have sat there and named names and took the spotlight off himself, but he didn’t. He instead, talked about himself. Check it out:

“MVP is tough right now, you have a lot of good guys, but I would give my vote to myself. You can see the numbers. I’m batting 5^th in the lineup and I’ve been there the whole year and why not me? “

Read the full interview HERE. Now, after that, he came out with another statement and wanted to "clarify". Cano said:

“I never said that I am, or that I want to be... It’s like if you ask my mom, ‘Who is the prettiest man in the world?’ She’s going to say me.”

Read his backtrack HERE. I guess he felt as though he came off as arrogant. There was some suggestion after he made the MVP statement that he got some backlash from it. I didn't really think about it to tell you the truth. In fact, his quote was out there for the world to see and no one really hammered him, not that I could tell.

Cano's having a terrific season and each year he continues to get better, at the plate and in the field. When Robinson Cano entered the Home run derby with his biggest fan, his father Jose Cano pitching to him, I didn’t really think he’d pull it off and win the Home Run crown, but he did. While the Home Run Derby is just a glorified contest for TV ratings, it was significant, the guys developing into a damn good hitter, and power hitter at that.

But back to that quote, "... I would give my vote to myself..." I sat there and thought about it and I thought about Robinson Cano and I compared him to someone like Alex Rodriguez.

(Photo: New York Times / Alex Rodriguez)

Why is it, that if Alex Rodriguez said that quote, it would be top headline news? Robinson Cano gave that quote to ESPN and it was in print from Matt Ehalt on September 22^nd. I didn’t see it until September 23rd. If Alex Rodriguez said it, it would probably overtake the Russell Martin headlines about him hating the Red Sox. People see Alex Rodriguez as arrogant, but Robinson Cano, who’s equally talented as confident. It’s interesting, isn’t it?

I’m in no way taking a swipe at Alex Rodriguez. Alex is a terrific ballplayer and maybe because it comes easier to him, maybe his appreciation for awards seems different. Maybe it’s perceived like it’s no big deal to Alex and he comes off as a player who just expects it. Who knows. I don’t see Alex that way at all. Many do. I find the Alex talented and someone that was in the spotlight too early in his career and given too much money too early. I think he’s learning and maturing now. Robinson Cano on the other hand clearly has that focus and appreciation of everything that’s given to him. He, no doubt gets that from his father, Jose Cano who also went through the baseball system but only played 1 major league season. He knows how easy it is for baseball to disappear and how you need to work to keep it. Clearly he instilled that in Robinson and hence, Robinson doesn’t come off arrogant at all. To me, he’s just a squeaky wheel in that ESPN interview. He instead comes off as a voice to confidence, in my opinion of course.

Look, whatever it is, Robinson is deserving of the MVP. Yes, there are a lot of factors involved and last year, when he was competing against Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera, we knew it would be hard to win the MVP. That’s why Bleeding Yankee Blue gave him our own award. Read WHY CANO SHOULD WIN MVP, BUT WON'T.

At the end of the day, I do hope Robinson or Curtis Granderson snag the MVP. Both have had great seasons and both deserve some credit for really helping this Yankee team get to the playoffs...and that's not arrogance telling you that, that's confidence.

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