Your New York Sports Blog: Link: Cano and Delgado Underachievers

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Yahoo has done a list of the 10 players NOT earning the paycheck. On the list are two New York players, Robinson Cano and Carlos Delgado. Cano ranked lower than Delgado coming in at 4 when Delgado came in at 6. The list has some holes though considering Barry Zito who has a $126 million dollar contract and has pitched like crab.

4. Robinson Cano, Yankees
Coming into 2008, Cano boasted a career batting line of .314 AVG/.346 OBP/.489 — quality numbers for an up-the-middle defender. However, this season he's been lost at the plate (.276 OBP). You can point to other reasons for the Yankees' struggles — Alex Rodriguez's injury, the rotation, Derek Jeter's drop in production and customarily poor defense, the lack of reliable middle relievers not named Joba Chamberlain — but Cano's troubling decline has a lot to do with it. Fixing the Yankees is an exercise in triage at this point, but what's certain is that Cano must improve going forward.

...Putting him for on this list is a little harsh. When you look at his salary this year ($3 million) compared to some other people on the list *cough*Eric GAGne*cough* he should be much lower or not on the list. It's not like this is a seasoned vet like Delgado he is 25 and has only been up for 3 years. And his stats have really improved and if he had to be on this list comparing him to the rest he should be #10 period.

6. Carlos Delgado, Mets
Delgado declined last season, but a modest production spike in the second half raised hopes that he'd improve in 2008. That's not happening. At present, Delgado is batting .215 AVG/.294 OBP/.387 SLG, while the average NL first baseman has a batting line of .271/.358/.478. As you can see, that's a serious production deficit. Delgado is 36 years of age, so drastic improvement isn't likely. However, the Mets need him to achieve at least adequacy. It's simply hard to win when you're getting such poor numbers from a power position like first base.

....Dum dum dum.......Carlos Delgado (pause)........ This has been a really tough season f

or Delgado for more than just his hitting. Not only has his hitting been sub par, but his leadership has really taken a hit. Getting benched, the center of the Wagner comments, and fighting with Willie last night over pinch hitting (turned out to be the right move). Then there are self inflicted ones like not celebrating with the team yesterday.

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