CANO GREW UP IN THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

 Colin Cowherd likes to make headlines. That's why I didn't bother putting his name in mine. He likes to rank on players and has positions about them that are different than the others, just to be provocative. The past 48 hours, it worked and good for him, but I have a different view of Robinson Cano, from a fan perspective.

What Robinson Cano did in the World Baseball Classic was more than him being a great baseball player and "playing a lot harder" there, than on the Yankees, as Cowherd said.  Cowherd missed the bigger picture.  That picture was that Cano became a leader in the WBC.  Not sure how Cowherd missed that, but I guess he wanted to be talked about and he wanted to take a shot against Cano at the same time...whatever.

Now, truth be told, I've taken my own shots against Cano's hustle or lack there of.  I hate seeing a pro ball player ground out and jog to first.  You don't learn that in little league, what makes a pro ball player think that's OK now? That's my take at least. But the "Cano show" in the World Baseball Classic was larger than life, and sure the Dominican Republic won and that's all fine and good for baseball, but we Yankee fans saw something very adult happen.  Cano grew up.

But back to Cowherd for a second... the other day when he said "Robinson Cano plays a lot harder in those [WBC] games than he does for the Yankees" (Read HERE), I have to say, I'm not quite sure he saw what I saw.  I saw a shortened season where it's all or nothing.  I saw a guy who didn't have guys like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera with him and knew he needed to lead his club.  I saw a mature player in Cano, probably for the first time, and I have a feeling  that what we just saw with Cano will translate to the Yankees this season.  Why?  Because ironically, with Derek Jeter now playing the remaining of his Spring training games in the minors, read HERE, Cano will be back with the big club, hot off the WBC and ready to roll and continuing to lead.

Then, when Jeet comes back officially and hopefully that will be on Opening day... things will click back into place and back into gear and Cano will be a Yankee again, and life will be good.

So, Cowherd? Ignore it and ignore him. He's trying to be provocative... and while he and I may agree on hustle in the smallest instance when it comes to Cano and the WBC, I know you agree with me when I say that Cano did something big in the WBC that will translate into a Yankee season we will hopefully never forget. That's my take at least.

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