ThePSEGPowerPoster
LOSER POINTS!
- Feb 23, 2013
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Cano in just 7 years has been 10x the player Vidro and Kent wish they ever could have been
You can't group Cano in with everybody else, because he is not like everybody else - it is equivalent to doing so with Jeter
I'm not even going to touch the steroids and projected stats 10 years from now, it's ridiculous
It's certainly not ridiculous to the teams that are offering players these contracts. Teams don't enter negotiations with the idea that a player is going to produce at a similar rate through age 40. You HAVE to speculate a decline. You HAVE to speculate the possibility that a guy you're locking up for 10 years may/may not have used steroids (in this day and age). It's irresponsible not to anticipate declines in this sport.
Jeff Kent by Age 30 averaged: .274/.330/.471 .802OPS 20 HR and 81 RBI in that stretch. 138 career bombs.
Jeff Kent age 30-40 averaged: .299/.370/..520 .890 OPS with an MVP and 5 AS appearances. He averaged 25 homeruns and 98 RBI in that stretch.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/p...tting_standard#1998-2008-sum:batting_standard
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kentje01.shtml#1992-1998-
sum:batting_standard
Robinson Cano by Age 30: .305/.355/.504 .860 OPS 23 HR 91 RBI average throughout that stretch.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kentje01.shtml#1992-1998-sum:batting_standard
They're remarkably similar players with Cano having the edge with the stick. Though it's a lot closer than it appears given the ballpark Robbie plays in. He's certainly not ten times the player Kent was. That's just incorrect.
We won't get into the steroids. That's fine. But to say "you can't assume he will not produce at a high level" is equally ridiculous to me. Everyone declines. 2B historically decline much faster. I gave you one of the best aging, most talented 2B of the modern era and I'm sure Cano (and the Mariners) take his post-30 production to the bank right now if they could.
Prime Kent was just as good of a hitter for average and a much more patient hitter and a much more prolific power hitter than Cano. Bests him in nearly every offensive category.