I FEEL LIKE I’M 25
Robbie turns back clock
PORT ST. LUCIE – Enough’s enough.
It’s been six years since Robinson Cano competed in a playoff game. Seven of his nine seasons with the Yankees spilled into October. Postseason contention is part of his DNA. Now, Cano is back in the Big Apple hoping for another championship ring.
“I grew up in the Yankees system. They teach you how to be a champion from the minor leagues,” Cano said on Sunday. “You want to win a championship, you want to make it to the playoffs 7, 8 times. I try to go there every year ... But coming back here, I’m looking forward to being back in the playoffs.”
Cano joins the Mets in his age-36 season after a five-year hiatus from the big city. He received three AllStar nods while playing in Seattle and said he has no regrets about his tenure with the Mariners. Cano enjoyed his time in the Emerald City, but he’s ready to bring Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s vision to life.
“I feel like I’m 25,” Cano quipped. “I don’t change anything in spring training. Every spring training is a new one. I want to go out and grind and feel like I’m competing for a job. I don’t take anything for granted. I want to be an everyday player. I just go out and do my best like everyone else and enjoy and have fun.”
The second baseman signed on to the Mets thanks to a fresh and ambitious spirit. Cano said the players walking around the clubhouse look like the same competitive team Van Wagenen described. “(Van Wagenen) got a lot of good pieces and this team is really good,” Cano said. “Hopefully all of us stay healthy. Like I always say, when you have a healthy team, especially this kind of team, we can do big things in this game.”
Cano said he was lucky to come into the major leagues surrounded by Yankees superstars and future Hall of Famers. He picked their brains and wasn’t afraid to ask them questions because their experience was invaluable. While his own Hall of Fame bid is up in the air due to a PED bust, Cano is passing the torch by acting as the Mets’ newest veteran superstar.
“I always go in knowing you get to play for a team and get a chance to wear their uniform,” Cano said. “You have to go out and perform. You have fans in the stands who get up every morning to come see you play. As a player you want to go out and do your best.”