New York Mets: What Can the Mets Expect from Robinson Cano?

Can Robinson Cano be an All-Star for the New York Mets? Let’s dive into his numbers and discuss the embattled slugger’s value.

On Saturday, the New York Mets finalized their first big move of the offseason. Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz are expected to officially join the Amazins’ on Monday. Many Mets fans are probably wondering, what can we expect from Robinson Cano? The club’s new second baseman is 36 years old and is coming off a PED suspension. Can he still be a productive player in 2019 and beyond?

The answer to this question is YES, the 2019 New York Mets have a better lineup with Cano now set to be its anchor. There will always be questions surrounding Cano’s body and performance, as we don’t know how PEDs affected his play, but his numbers point in a positive direction.

After serving his suspension, Robinson Cano had a very successful return to the Mariners’ lineup. In 2018, Cano hit 10 home runs, drove in 50 RBIs and sported a slash line of .303/.374/.471 in 80 games played. This resulted in a Baseball-Reference WAR of 3.2.

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As a rough estimate, Cano was on pace to hit 20 home runs, drive in 100 RBIs and produce a bWAR around 6. This is far above his career average bWAR of 5.07. As you can see, Cano proved that he can still produce at an All-Star level.

You can even say that Cano has been a better hitter since signing his mega-deal with the Seattle Mariners. This is a testament to his durability and longevity. Cano’s bat seems like it will age very well.

As a member of the New York Yankees, Robinson Cano averaged 22.66 home runs, 91.33 RBIs and a slash line of .309/.355/.504. As a member of the Seattle Mariners, Cano average 21.4 home runs, 82.22 RBIs and a slash line of .296/.353/.472.

On the first view, it seems that Cano was more productive while playing second base for the Yankees, but OPS+ paints a different picture.

In my opinion, OPS+ is the perfect stat to use when judging batters.

MLB.com defines OPS+ as “OPS+ takes a player’s on-base plus slugging percentage and normalizes the number across the entire league. It accounts for external factors like ballparks. It then adjusts so a score of 100 is league average, and 150 is 50 percent better than the league average”

As a member of the Yankees, Cano produced an OPS+ of 126. As a Mariner, Cano produced an OPS+ of 129.

Even though the difference is only marginal, this difference is meaningful as Cano improved his number while switching from one of the best hitting environments, Yankee Stadium, to one of the worst hitting environments, Safeco Field.

As a pure hitter, these OPS+ numbers serve as evidence to show that Robinson Cano was a marginally better hitter while playing second base for the Seattle Mariners. We can say that Cano’s numbers were inflated while playing for the Yankees as we need to take his home ballpark and division into account. These numbers also further support that Cano still has a lot left in the tank. Cano has not slowed down throughout the first five years of his megadeal.

Knowing this helps me confidently say that Robinson Cano will be able to produce at an All-Star level while playing at Citi Field. He has shown that he still has the ability to hit and he has not shown any signs of slowing down. The slugger will be able to transition his game to Citi Field.

The five years remaining on Cano’s deal are going to hang over the Mets’ heads, but I am optimistic about their value. Robinson Cano will make a difference for the New York Mets. Hopefully, this will help lead to a return to the Playoffs.