This is a great question. On the one hand, Utley has more pop in his bat and puts up better numbers, but he is asked to do something entirely different for the Phillies. He went 32/102 hitting in the middle of that phillies line-up. Cano on the other hand, hit in the 9th slot for much of the year with the Yankees just because that is where htey needed him. He still had 15/70ish and was in the top 5 in all the majors in batting average. Neither are a lilability in the field, but I would take chase utley this year and cano for every year after that. right now I think Utley is better but once Cano gets one more year of seasoning, he is only 24, he will absolutely explode as one of the best hitters in the league.
FatTits380 wrote: This is a great question. On the one hand, Utley has more pop in his bat and puts up better numbers, but he is asked to do something entirely different for the Phillies. He went 32/102 hitting in the middle of that phillies line-up. Cano on the other hand, hit in the 9th slot for much of the year with the Yankees just because that is where htey needed him. He still had 15/70ish and was in the top 5 in all the majors in batting average. Neither are a lilability in the field, but I would take chase utley this year and cano for every year after that. right now I think Utley is better but once Cano gets one more year of seasoning, he is only 24, he will absolutely explode as one of the best hitters in the league.
I have to agree. Right now, I would take Utley.
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"It's the fans that need spring training. You gotta get 'em interested." - Harry Caray
It's hard to tell how good Cano is going to be. He hit everywhere in that line up and Fat tits is right that a lot of the time it was in the 9 hole when he woulda hit in the 2 hole for nearly any other team only the Yankees have DJ. Utley has so much power now that he is more valuable, but in the long run, gotta take Cano, he's four years younger and because of the weird situation he's been in as a Yankee this will be his first year to really see what he can do and the sky is the limit.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
Yah, hands down right now you take Utley but obviously it gets more complicated if you are looking long term. Utley is only 28, essentially beginning his prime years so you can't really say in one year or in 5 years even that Cano is going to automatically be better.
This is definetely a nice problem to have, but I'm saying Utley until Cano has a break out season power-wise
Also when looking at their numbers, Cano had about 175 less AB than Utley, extrapolate that
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Do you guys want the truth...or do you want to see me hit some dingers?!?
You really can't put Cano above Utley yet, but I hope he breaks out. He's got such a sweet swing and is a great story. And really, these two guys are above and beyond everyone else at second base, from the plate anyways.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
It is way too early to label Cano as one of the best second basemen. It is only going to be his second full season in the pros. I really like Cano, but who knows what's going to happen in the future with him. I think that Brian Roberts could be up there for one of the best second basemen. He is a pretty good fielder, he hits for average, and he's always up there in steals every year. In Chase Utley's case, he hits for avg. too and even power, but he does not stand out to me as a better than average fielder, and I am not sure how many bases he steals. If Soriano still played at second he might be considered one of the best too. In a second baseman, teams look for speed, range, and their eye at the plate.
If you don't like Cano because he hasn't been around long enough I can see where youre coming from. But to say Brian Roberts is any better isn't right either I don't think. Roberts has only been a full timer for what 3 years and has only hit over .290 once in his career. If you want a guy that is guarenteed production look at Luis Castillo. Castillo has been around 11 years and averaged over .300 for the past 5 seasons. Even with that, I love Cano's upside and he will continue to devlope because pitchers will be unable to pitch around him or get cute with him considering the strength of that Yankee line-up.
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"In big games, the action slows down for him where it speeds up for others. I've told him, 'I'll trade my past for your future.'" -Reggie Jackson on Derek Jeter
