The New York Yankees look very different in 2014, with All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano now a member of the Seattle Mariners and the greatest closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera, now retired, and though Rivera was highly critical of Cano, it seems as though the $240 million man harbors no ill will toward his former teammate.
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Just one day after it was revealed that the all-time saves leader said in his book that he would take Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia over Cano, Cano responded, saying that he still respects his former teammate and regards him as the greatest closer to ever play the game.
"Everybody has a different opinion. That's his opinion and I have to respect his opinion," Cano said prior to the Mariners 8-3 win over the Oakland Athletics Tuesday via ESPN. "I'm not going to go too far into this. That's the only thing that I can say. My focus right now is this team. I'm here, we're winning. I was over there already and now I'm here and now I'm focused on the team. I'm going to be excited for my teammates."
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Cano seemed to shake off the comments of his former teammate for nine years now that he's in a new setting after signing a 10-year $240 million deal with Seattle this past offseason.
In his book, The Closer: My Story, Rivera wrote that "nobody plays harder" than Pedroia and said that he didn't "think Robby burns to be the best. ... You don't see that red-hot passion in him that you see in most elite players."
Cano, who many regard as the best second baseman in the league, has played in at least 159 games over the last seven years to prove his durability and has a career .309 average.
"Everybody knows I play 160 games," Cano said per ESPN. "How does Mariano feel? I respect that and I'm always going to have respect for him, a guy that I spent nine years with and for me is always going to be the best closer. That's how I feel."
Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon came to the defense of his new second baseman when asked about Rivera's comments.
"The last nine years, he's been the best second baseman in baseball, offensively and defensively, and the awards and the numbers back it up," McClendon told ESPN.
Rivera did give Cano some accolades in his book.
"There is no doubt that he is a Hall of Fame-caliber talent," Rivera says of Cano, according to ESPN. "It's just a question of whether he finds the drive that you need to get there."
In the end though, it was obvious that Rivera would pick Pedroia over Cano if he had to choose.
"He comes at you hard for 27 outs. It's a special thing to see," Rivera says of Pedroia per ESPN. "If I have to win one game, I'd have a hard time taking anybody over Dustin Pedroia as my second baseman."
Cano has received the message loud and clear, but to his credit the five-time All-Star second baseman is taking it in stride.
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