Robinson Cano has had one heck of a career in New York as a Yankee.  This past offseason his contract was up and he was looking for a huge long term deal.  The Yankees decided to pass up on what could’ve been the next “Yankee Great” by letting Cano walk and sign with the Seattle Mariners for $240 million on a ten year deal.

This move may concern some fantasy owners in thinking that Cano’s numbers will decline a bit this season.  It is understandable to be nervous because it is thought that some of his numbers were artificially enhanced from the dimensions of Yankee Stadium.

Being that Cano is a left-handed hitter, anything he pulls down the line can easily go over the 314 foot corner.  The same goes with pop flies.  Balls that can be considered routine fly balls can sometimes sail over the 362 foot right field fence and that was a common occurrence at Yankee Stadium.  The short porch helped plenty of balls become homeruns when they shouldn’t have been.

At Safeco Field in Seattle, the right field corner is 12 feet longer which can be a significant difference for Cano or any player for that matter.  Cano has decent power but has only hit over 30 homeruns as a “power hitter” once in his career and that could be because of the Yankee Stadium effect.

Other than this extremely minor blip in his statistics, Robinson Cano is a must draft player if he falls to you in the draft.  He is an excellent batter who can draw plenty of walks and drive in runs whenever they are in scoring position.  Cano is a pure average hitter hasn’t hit under .300 since 2008.  You can rely on him to put the ball in play and make pitchers work hard to get him out.

Another strength that you can rely on from Cano is his durability.  He has played at least 159 games in his past six seasons so injuries should be the last thing you worry about.  He has played the second-most games of any player the past five seasons, behind only Prince Fielder.

As for the pitching matchups against Cano in the American League West, they are much more in his favor then they were in the American League East.  Besides Yu Darvish, the pitching quality in the West is not as good as the East.  Cano has two of the better starting pitchers in the West on his team in Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma.  Lucky for him he also is in the same division as the Houston Astros who have one of the worst rotations and bullpen in all of Major League Baseball.

So the decline of his homerun totals can be expected this year but other than that, Cano is a cannot miss type of player.  He should easily be drafted in the first round especially since the second base position is so weak.  At second base there is Robinson Cano and then there is everyone else.  Pass on him because you are worried about a statistical decline and you will be greatly disappointed all season long.

Expectations are high for this top paid player and he will not let fans down.  You can expect Cano to have very similar numbers to last season.  He is a disciplined batter who will take walks and hustle singles to doubles.  There is absolutely no reason to worry of a poor season from him.  If anything he will start off a little slow but after the first few weeks, Cano will be in top form.

2013 Stats

.314 Average, 81 Runs, 27 Homeruns, 107 RBIs, 7 Stolen Bases

2014 Projections

.310 Average, 85 Runs, 24 Homeruns, 100 RBIs, 6 Stolen Bases