New York Mets: Robinson Cano listed as “dark-horse” MVP candidate on MLB.com

The New York Mets set to begin the 2019 season, a season where Robinson Cano will wear the blue and orange for the first time. Interestingly enough, there are already talks of him being an early MVP candidate.

The New York Mets made what I believe to be the MLB’s blockbuster move of the winter when they acquired both Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz on the same December night.

The trade included the Mets getting those two players while getting rid of some liable contracts and giving up a prospect like first round pick Jarred Kelenic.

The trade is still the poster move by new Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen so far in his short tenure.

To me, the move felt like more of a move to get a guy like Edwin Diaz to fix the Mets’ biggest need at the time which was their bullpen.

However, Robison Cano is a huge part of the deal too. He is a proven player who was on pace to be in the Hall of Fame before his suspension last season.

But interestingly enough, there are already talks of Cano being a sleeper MVP candidate. At least according to Will Leitch of MLB.com.

Here is what he had to say about Cano being an MVP sleeper:

"“There was much grousing about Cano’s contract — specifically the length of it — and the PED suspension last season didn’t win him many fans, either. But it is probably worth mentioning that he can still really hit. In Cano’s 80 games last year, he put up a .303/.374/.471 line, and Statcast™ showed him with the second highest hard-hit percentage before breaking his hand. He kept ripping when he came back, too. Cano is older, so there’s always a fear of rapid fade. But right now, he looks like the Mets’ best hitter, in a lineup that’s vastly improved over last year’s. Cano has finished in the top 10 of MVP Award voting six times, but never higher than third. If the Mets have the turnaround their new GM believes they will, Cano could put up huge numbers and receive a lot of the credit.”"

I find that incredibly interesting.

Now, I know I am not one to give an opinion on everything I read about the teams I write about, but this one is worth sharing.

There are some really interesting points made about Cano here and how he will do for the Mets. Because right now, there are a lot of question marks.

Sure, we know what kind of player Cano is, a solid average hitter who can make contact with pop, but he is coming off a suspension that took almost a whole year of his career and is the oldest player on the team right now.

However, he will likely be great. The stat about him being in the MVP voting constantly speaks for itself. He is not only great, but has been able to sustain it.

It is for solid reason he is almost always considered as a sleeper MVP candidate.

Another huge factor for Cano is that he is coming back to New York. While Citi Field is no Yankee Stadium in terms of being hitter friendly, Cano is familiar with New York.

He spent nine seasons with the Yankees and understands how to play here and how to hit in the colder fall months, hot summer months, hit or miss spring months.

He is a career .322 hitter in September and October and a career. 287 hitter in March and April, he can handle all kinds weather. He did spent time out west in an arguably similar climate in Seattle, but most of those numbers are skewed by what he did in New York

I know that seems like a stretch to consider this but it is important. It is part of playing in New York. It goes beyond the market size, the geography is important.

Also, I think it is interesting how analytical Leitch’s take is. It is hard to argue. After all, Cano is an analytical enthusiasts’ dream.

He is not the best at at one particular thing, rather solid at everything. He hits, hits home runs, and plays consistently. He rarely misses time due to injury playing at least 150 games every year from 2007-2017.

So, I agree that Cano could be a sleeper MVP candidate.

He probably will not win the award to be the MVP, but he could at least be the best Met and turn a lot of heads.

He might go a little under the radar too because his trade counterpart, Edwin Diaz, could win over fans quicker by making a lot of saves and doing his job for the outstanding starting pitchers.

Cano, while I am sure will be embraced by Mets fans, might never get the glory he deserves here. Mickey Callaway is going to rest him often for the other options they have and the fans will still always wonder about the younger Jeff McNeil could have done in that spot.

Plus, a guy like Jose Reyes fell out of the hearts of Mets fans last season very quickly, granted he is not nearly as good as Cano was going into the season, but he still failed to prove himself and was quickly removed for the younger players.

So basically what I am trying to say is I agree with Leitch here.

No matter what happens, and some might have already known or thought, some might eventually realize, it could be Cano who ends up being the best player Van Waganen got this offseason.

Robinson Cano could be in for a blistering season, a truly valuable one. Wouldn’t that be nice.