The New York Yankees will hobble into the new season. Derek Jeter is old and recovering. Curtis Granderson won't be around until May. Alex Rodriguez is, well, a problem. And now Mark Teixeira is out with an injured forearm. Suddenly the Yankees aren't powerful and Robinson Cano and Ichiro are the healthiest players in their lineup. However, all the pressure will be on Cano's shoulders and it will be a great opportunity for him to prove he's the new leader in the Yankees organization.
Not taking anything away from Jeter, he's still the captain and when healthy, he was playing at a very high level. However, the Yankees have to move on from these veteran players that continuously breakdown. It's tough to let go of a legend and the Yankees have proven they have some sort of fetish for re-signing veteran players in the twilight of their careers. Andy Pettitte was great, but he eventually went down. You can mark your calendar as Travis Hafner is sure to get injured at some point this season.
Cano is young, a superstar, productive and the fact that he's always healthy entitles him to being the new face of the franchise. He's only missed a total of 11 games since 2007. That's no Cal Ripken Jr., but it's pretty amazing for this generation.
Jeter is working on getting his range back, so there are questions about his status heading into the season. This is when Cano has to step up and prove that he can carry the load. The Yankees lineup has been stripped of its power with all these injuries. It will be hard to take the Yankees lineup as a threat especially if there's no protection behind Cano.
With a solid first couple of months, if Cano can get hot and the Yankees offense is successful, questions will immediately sound off about Cano truly being considered an MVP candidate.
There has been too much firepower in the Yankees' lineup in the past to really pick him out as an MVP, but last season, despite Granderson leading the team in home runs and RBI, Cano finished fourth in the MVP race behind Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout and Adrian Beltre.
Players usually rise to the occasion during contract season. Cano, like anybody in any industry, wants to get paid and a big 2013 year, especially with an injured Yankees roster, could help the second baseman achieve just that.
In 2010, Cano finished in third place in the MVP race after hitting .319 with 29 homers and 109 RBI for the best finish in his career.
Cano is currently playing for the Dominican Republic and will face the Yankees as he will represent his nation in the World Baseball Classic.