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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WHY CJ WILSON IS SNEAKY

I knew something would come out about this guy not being on the level. I’m not going to harp on this only because it’s not a Yankee story and the only connection between the Yankees and CJ Wilson is that Wilson was a free agent and the Yankees really didn’t have much interest in the guy. Read HERE. That’s it.

Look, from the outside looking in, I view CJ Wilson as a know-it-all, arrogant dude who knew he was going to get a big contract somewhere regardless of talent but instead because it’s just the way sports are these days… you become a free agent and you get signed big depending on the Free Agent pool you're in. CJ happened to be one of the top pitchers this winter, but we all know he’s not the top. This is all my opinion by the way, you can have yours and I respect you, I’m just trying to make a point.

CJ Wilson recently tweeted former teammate Mike Napoli’s cell phone number and chalked it up as a prank. Read the story HERE. Now you know me and privacy when it comes to these players. You will never see Bleeding Yankee Blue talking about private lives and I slammed Colin Cowherd fro his ridiculous story a while back about AJ Burnett and his wife “allegedly” having marital problems. That story should have never come forward, it’s none of our business. (Read WHY PRIVATE IS PRIVATE.) Well now Wilson is in a heap of trouble…with Mike Napoli and perhaps Major League Baseball...we shall see.

Look, I’m stating this as a human being who understands respect. Wilson crossed the line. The perfect solution is the old school backyard street fight… Napoli gets a free shot, because it’s more than just a phone number being tweeted, it’s concern for Napoli’s family. We have no idea who’s out there on Twitter and who “loves” or truly “hates” Mike Napoli and you have no idea what people are capable of. In this day and age, people just need to be smarter about their pranks.

Message to CJ Wilson, that was a bonehead move... apologize and take your lumps, you made a stupid mistake... That's 1 baseball fans opinion of course.

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WHY IT'S A DIRTY JOB, BUT TOM CABRAL DID IT

If I said Tom Cabral to you, what would you say…”Who the hell is that?” Well, not sure if you’re familiar but right around the time the evil Red Sox were on their road to collapse in 2011, Tom Cabral was the guy who proudly wore his New York Yankees shirt and served then Red Sox pitcher Erik Bedard child support papers for a company called Lawgical. Read the story HERE.

Look, I’m not going to lie, when all that stuff went down, I kind of stayed away from it. I mean, I believe in keeping private private and even when Colin Cowherd came up with a phoney report last year about AJ Burnett and his “alleged” problems with his wife, I ripped into him too...read WHY PRIVATE IS PRIVATE. It’s not fair to get involved in someone’s personal matters. That being said, I’m not getting involved in Mr. Bedard’s situation, it’s unfair.
I was however curious about Tom and what the hell he was thinking, so when Lawgical approached me about the ordeal, I decidedto ask Tom a few questions about it. I tried to continue to keep Bedard's private life private and only stick to what was being reported. Take a look:

BYB: Explain the reasoning for wearing the Yankees jersey and delivering the papers to Erik Bedard. Why did you want to do that? Many find that classless.

Tom Cabral: I went to the Red Sox front office because the lawyer and the client requested that it be done that day. They tried to set up a meeting in the parking lot but the timing didn’t work out. I’m a Yankees and and I’ve been a fan my whole life, even though I was raised in Red Sox land. Anyone who knows me knows that I have 20 to 30 Yankee shirts in my closet and almost always have one on. Friends and family were like “You had a Yankees jersey on…so what?”

BYB: What was Bedard’s reaction when you handed him the papers? Did he ask you questions about the Yankee jersey? Did he think it was a joke?

Tom Cabral: Bedard didn’t see the jersey. I had a blue Derek Jeter Spring Training jersey on underneath a hoodie. One of the reporters on the sidelines noticed it. I walked up to him and said something like, “I’m not trying to bust your balls. I’m a Yankees fan but I’m just trying to get a job done.” He responded by telling me it wasn’t a problem and that he and her have been dealing with struggles for a while. He said it was no big deal.

BYB: Having a Yankee fan serve Bedard, was that done out of a request by his wife?

Tom Cabral:It’s not like she wanted a server who was a Yankee fan in Boston, what are the odds of that?

BYB: Do you read Bleeding Yankee Blue?

Tom Cabral: I’ve probably glances at it. I’ve upped my blog reading since Ive been the subject of some entries on those pages. I’ll definitely check it out in the future.

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WHY PRIVATE IS PRIVATE

Say what you will about AJ Burnett, a headcase, not focused, damn good pitcher. Maybe you even love the guy because of the whole "pie thing" to the Bronx. Overall though, AJ Burnett is a great pitcher going through a rough patch. He's also apparently a very private person, many of us are. Look at Derek Jeter, another private guy, you can't get anything out of that guy. So, what's my point? Whatever AJ is dealing with internally in his family life, his head, whatever, that is his business. Oh yeah, and the Yankees business too, after all, they invested in him.

Yesterday, ESPN’s radio blowhard Colin Cowherd came out with some story about AJ Burnett going through a quote “rough divorce” and he insinuated that it was THAT for why he was pitching so lousy, the non focus on the mound, the black eye, all that crap.

Now you can sit here and tell me the Colin Cowherd is great at what he does on the radio. OK, I give you that. But one thing he’s not good at is reporting rumors. The Golden rule in journalism, get the facts first. If it’s a rumor, check it out. If it doesn’t check out, shut up. If it does, use your moral compass; Do you really want someone’s personal life out there? Would YOU want YOUR personal life out there? Colin Cowherd doesn’t care about that I guess. Do me a favor, Leave the kid alone. Let him deal with whatever private matter he's dealing with, if he’s dealing with any at all, that is. A few hours after Cowherd blabbed his "gossip", AJ’s agent stepped in and said it was all crap. Good work.

Look, during the winter and winter meetings, "rumors" among players and teams is fun. You hear something about a trade, a deal, maybe you hear about a "mystery" team, maybe you even make up a "mystery" team. That stuff’s harmless. We all do it. No one gets hurt. But, Jeez man, blabbing rumors about a person’s private life? That's just plain irresponsible and Cowherd's a turd for doing it.

Remember, when Mike Piazza had to have a press conference just to clear his name and declare that he wasn’t gay? (I still don’t get that by the way.) Read HERE. It was probably funny to everyone else that a “rumor” was circulating about Piazza’s sexuality, but it obviously bothered Piazza. It’s private. So what if he was or he wasn't, it’s supposed to be about baseball, not these guys private life. Same thing applies here. AJ won't and shouldn't even respond to Cowherd. Ignore it, let the agent do it. Focus AJ focus on what's important.

Now, Colin apologized today saying this: “If he is not going through a divorce, that’s on me, not my source, That’s on me, not this company. That’s on me because it’s personal, and I have to eat that and I have to say that’s my fault 100 percent.” But, the Damage is done Cowherd. The damage is done.

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