WHY IT'S TIME TO PASS THE TORCH TO CANO

You can see leadership already when it comes to Robinson Cano and when he needed to be the number 3 guy in the lineup after Alex Rodriguez was out for an extended period of time, he didn't blink. Instead, he embraced it and dominated and hopefully that will continue in 2012.

Peter Caldera, writer for the Bergen Record had a terrific story today, read HERE, and in a nutshell, suggests that the Yankees are confident with Cano in that role and Cano, well, he wants to do what's best for the team and win. Another guy clearly groomed in the Yankees organization early and understands the importance of leadership. As Caldera states in his piece: "It's where Babe Ruth hit in the '20's, where Mickey Mantle hit in the '50s and where Don Mattingly hit in the '80s." Good company? I'd say so.Bleeding Yankee Blue wrote about Cano in that role as well, WHY CANO SHOULD GET USED TO BEING #3. This was written on January 29th. Kudos to Jeana Bellezza for being ahead of the curve. We love Cano there in the 3 slot. There's a comfort level with him in that role; he produces and he makes the others around him better.

It will be interesting to watch how team's handle him in 2012 and if they will now pitch around him to try and do damage on some of the other Yankees that follow, like for instance, an aging Alex Rodriguez. It sounds crazy because just a few years ago, Rodriguez was mashing the ball, but now after injuries and age creeping up on Alex, many wonder if Cano is more of a threat than ARod now. It's crazy to think this way, but it's the reality we live in now.Cano's 29 and there's a lot baseball to be played. He's finished in the MVP voting twice in the top 6 in 2010 (3rd) and 2011 (6th) and has had an average over .300, 5 times of his 7 years playing in the majors. Of those .300 seasons, he batted .342 in 2006, .320 in 2009 and .319 in 2010. Not too shabby. Plus, since 2009, he increased his home runs into the 20's. 25 in 2009, 29 in 2010 and 28 in 2011. I'd be a fool if I didn't mention his RBI season high was in 2011 with 118.

Robinson Cano is built for the 3 hole, just like the other hitting greats of Yankees past... Donnie Baseball, the Mick and the Babe. 2o years from now, we'll add Hall of Famer Robbie Cano to that list of great #3 hitters in Yankee history... without a doubt.

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