Fantasy MLB: Is Cano better than Jeter?

Derek Jeter rocked the baseball world with his 5-5 performance and home run to mark his 3,000th career hit, however, his decision not to attend the Major League All-Star game in Phoenix, Arizona rubbed some people the wrong way.

While Jeter wanted to relax after attaining the career milestone, a different Yankees middle infielder not only attended the festivities, but also played a starring role.

Robinson Cano has long been considered a solid star on the New York Yankees, but I am not certain that anyone has viewed him as a potential baseball icon. There have been some great Yankees players over the last few decades that will surely resonate with the New York faithful thanks to their strong statistics and October heroics. However, it is suddenly looking that Cano is more Joe DiMaggio than Bernie Williams.

For the first few years of his career, Cano somehow slid under the radar. He did so despite finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2005, and then hitting .342 the very next season. However, it wasn’t until 2009 that Cano attained superstardom.

The statistics over the last three years have taken a Derek Jeter-like turn, when the Yankees shortstop was in his prime. Cano has hit .320 and .319 respectively, with back-to-back 200-plus hit seasons. He has improved on his patience and even picked up a Gold Glove award. However, one key difference between Cano and Jeter was put on display on Monday night. The 28-year-old second baseman has some serious power.

After belting between 14 to 19 home runs in each of his first four seasons, Cano smashed 25 bombs in 2009 and then 29 home runs last season. On the other hand, Jeter has never blasted as many as 25 home runs in a season, though he was also a different type of hitter with greater patience and more speed.

What’s amazing about Cano is how the Yankees acquired him. While Jeter was a first round pick, Cano was brought to New York via a trade that sent what looked to be another certain superstar second baseman, Alfonso Soriano to Texas for Alex Rodriguez.

It’s amazing how quickly things turned and how favourable the transaction worked out for the Yankees. Soriano’s bat still had some great years in it, but he was moved away from second base due to his inconsistent defense. Cano, who was practically a throw-in in the deal, has not only mastered the glove at second, but he may also offer greater offense than Soriano.

To put Cano’s sensational start in perspective, let’s compare his statistics to Jeter and DiMaggio through the age of 28:

It should be noted that Joe DiMaggio missed a full season at the age of 28 to serve in World War II. Jeter, meanwhile, played 112 games more than Cano, but it’s also only the all-star break, so there will be more games and at bats coming for the second baseman.

The statistics show that Cano is on the right path towards becoming not just a Yankees legend, but also a baseball legend. However, the script is far from complete. We once thought the same thing of Nomar Garciaparra, but injuries limited his career contributions.

Based on his current career trends, Cano will need to play another nine-to-ten full seasons at a high level in order to reach 3,000 career hits. The odds are against him, heck, no other Yankees player other than Derek Jeter has ever reached that benchmark. On the other hand, Cano has made a career out of beating the odds so far.