Robinson Canó

A native of San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic, Canó signed with the Yankees organization as an amateur free agent in 2001.In the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournament, he won both a gold medal and a Most Valuable Player Award (MVP).[7] Canó was one of the five prospects offered to the Texas Rangers to complete the Yankees' acquisition of Alex Rodriguez before the 2004 season.[6] The next month, the Yankees attempted to trade him to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a package to acquire Randy Johnson.Torre clarified that he meant that Canó "reminded" him of Carew, in terms of his build, presence at the plate, and smoothness in his swing.[12] In 2006, Canó led the American League (AL) All-Star balloting at second base, but could not play after being placed on the disabled list for a strained hamstring.He finished 2007 sixth in the league in games played (160), ninth in triples (7), and tenth in hits (189), doubles (41), and at bats (617).[25] He was elected as the starting second baseman in the 2010 MLB All-Star Game and was selected to participate in the 2010 Home Run Derby;[26] however, he withdrew due to a minor injury.Canó won the American League Gold Glove Award for second basemen in 2010, the first by a Yankee second baseman since Bobby Richardson's five-year run from 1961 to 1965.[32] Canó was selected for the 2011 MLB All-Star Game as a starting second baseman, and was chosen to participate in the 2011 Home Run Derby.[20] In Game 1 of the 2011 AL Division Series, Canó hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Yankees an 8–1 lead.[36] On July 20, 2012, Canó extended his career-high hitting streak to 23 games with a single off of Oakland Athletics pitcher Tommy Milone in a 3–2 Yankees loss.[38] On October 29, the Yankees exercised Canó's club option for 2013 for $15 million, keeping him away from free agency for another year.[40] During his only plate appearance of the 2013 All-Star Game, he was hit by a pitch thrown by Matt Harvey and suffered a right quad contusion.[41] On August 20, Canó hit his 200th career home run, a three-run blast to center field off of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Esmil Rogers at Yankee Stadium.[43][44][45] Canó was offered a seven-year, $175 million contract to return to the Yankees, but turned it down in search of a longer deal.[56] On August 28, Canó reached 30 home runs for the second time in his career, hitting it against the Chicago White Sox.[60] Canó hit his 300th career home run on September 21 versus Keone Kela of the Texas Rangers, becoming just the third second baseman in history to reach the milestone, following Jeff Kent (377) and Rogers Hornsby (301).[61] Canó homered versus Lance McCullers Jr. in a 4–1 loss to the Houston Astros on April 18, 2018, to give him 302 for his career, and pass Hornsby for second place all-time among second basemen.[62] On April 29, Canó hit his 100th home run as a member of the Mariners, versus Josh Tomlin in a 10–4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.[64] Two days into his injury, on May 15, Canó was suspended 80 games for testing positive for Furosemide, a diuretic better known as Lasix, which was a violation of MLB's performance-enhancing drugs policy.[68] However, after a first half of the season which included two stints on the injured list, a career-high strikeout rate, and an 'F' grade from Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets' trade for Canó was described as "a massive misstep" by Connor Byrne writing for MLB Trade Rumors, and as "an unmitigated disaster" by Mike Mazzeo of Yahoo Sports.[69][70][71] On July 23, Canó had his first career three-home-run game and drove in all five of Mets runs against the San Diego Padres.On November 18, 2020, Canó was suspended for 162 games after testing positive for stanozolol in violation of MLB's performance-enhancing drugs policy, rendering him ineligible for the entire 2021 season.[96] Canó has participated for his native Dominican Republic in four World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournaments, held in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2023.[97] The Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico 3–0 in the finals to win the championship and became the first undefeated team in the tournament's history.Twelve more players have gone on accomplish the feat, including David Robertson, with whom Cano won a World Series in 2009.After going 3–0 in the first round, the Dominican Republic lost its first game to Puerto Rico which ended their streak of 11 straight wins dating back to the 2013 World Baseball Classic.