You may have heard that recently-retired reliever Mariano Rivera has a new book coming out about his life in baseball, called "The Closer."
And in it, he makes a startling admission: he'd rather have Dustin Pedroia as his second baseman behind him than his former teammate Robinson Cano.
"Nobody plays harder, gives more, wants to win more. He comes at you hard for twenty-seven outs. It's a special thing to see. If I have to win one game, I’d have a hard time taking anybody over Dustin Pedroia as my second baseman.”
You have to wonder about a statement like this. Cano is without question about better all-around hitter than Pedroia, but Pedey is the best fielding second baseman in the game right now (in my humble opinion). Cano has been rightly criticized in many circles for his lackadaisical play in the field and not hustling.
It also says a lot about the respect Rivera has for Pedroia. And a lot about his frustration over the years he's probably had seeing Cano waste his talent. (And I bet he's not the only Yankee teammate who has felt the same way.) Here's more about this from the New York Daily News.
I'm sure this will upset some Yankee fans, and it already has with my friend and Yankee devotee Lisa Swan.