I want to revisit this question, since Cano had a career best 149 OPS+ in 2012. He continues to add to his resume.
Our candidates, again, are:
- Robinson Cano
- Joe Gordon
- Tony Lazzeri
- Willie Randolph
- Snuffy Stirnweiss
Since the post in 2011, Baseball Reference has changed how they calculate wins above replacement.
PA WAR o/dWAR BA/OBP/SLG OPS+
Randolph 7465 51.7 41.9/16.3 .275/.374/.357 105
Lazzeri 7058 44.7 45.1/5.3 .293/.379/.467 120
Gordon 4216 35.1 26.1/10.2 .271/.358/.467 120
Cano 5110 34.8 33.0/5.0 .308/.351/.503 123
Stirnweiss 3800 25.7 18.0/11.4 .274/.366/.382 108
Randolph 7465 51.7 41.9/16.3 .275/.374/.357 105
Lazzeri 7058 44.7 45.1/5.3 .293/.379/.467 120
Gordon 4216 35.1 26.1/10.2 .271/.358/.467 120
Cano 5110 34.8 33.0/5.0 .308/.351/.503 123
Stirnweiss 3800 25.7 18.0/11.4 .274/.366/.382 108
Last time, Cano was slightly behind Lazzeri and Gordon in OPS+. He is now slightly ahead.
His wins above replacement have gone up and he should pass Gordon in early 2013.
Another 1,010 plate appearances were not, however, enough to send Cano past the competition in statistics besides OPS+ (and batting average and slugging average).
At his new pace, by the time Cano has accumulated 7,465 plate appearances to match Randolph, his WAR would be 50.8, about one win behind Randolph. At that point you could probably still argue for Cano based on the closeness and accuracy of the WAR, as well as Cano's superior hitting statistics.
Cano is also likely to end up with far more plate appearances as a Yankee than Randolph. This would help his case.
Cano's career OPS has gone up every year since 2009, and he just turned thirty. Will his hitting continue to improve and for how long?
Odds look very good that Robinson Cano will eventually have produced the best career at the position in Yankee history.
Last year I wrote that "The Yankees have never had a Joe Morgan or Jackie Robinson caliber second baseman." By the time Cano's career is over, they could.
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