LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The friction between Robinson Cano and Joe Girardi this past season was serious enough for the manager to approach the All-Star second baseman.
As reported in Saturday’s Post, Cano didn’t like hitting second and preferred to bat third, a better production spot for a hitter in a walk year of his contract.
“He didn’t tell me he was unhappy, but there were things that I heard and I sat down and talked to him,’’ Girardi said Tuesday at the Winter Meetings. “He said, ‘OK, whatever you need.’ ’’
With Derek Jeter out, Girardi batted Cano second often across the first three months of the season.
“I told Robbie, ‘When I can get you back to third, I will get you back to third,’ ’’ Girardi said. “But right now I think you hitting second gives us the best chance to win. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t ideal with all the injuries we had last year and we had to make some adjustments.’’
Of course, hitting second didn’t hurt Cano at the free-agent window as he got a whopping 10-year deal for $240 million from the Mariners.
“Players want to hit in those certain spots and I understand that,’’ Girardi said. “But I felt it gave us the best chance to win and that’s the reason I did it.’’
Lloyd McClendon, the Mariners’ new manager, said Cano can make out the lineup card.
“He can bat wherever he wants to bat. I told him, ‘I said that couch over there is mine and that one’s yours. But if you’d like to have that one, you can have that one, too,’’’ McClendon said of a discussion in the manager’s office. “He’s a special talent. Look, there is no sense in fooling ourselves. But he’s also a team player. He’s a very special and unique person. I think he’s willing to do whatever needs to be done to help us get better really fast.’’
McClendon, a former coach with the Tigers, understood who the most dangerous Yankee hitter was. And it wasn’t Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira.
“When we went in to play the Yankees, the guy that we were most concerned about was Robinson Cano,’’ McClendon said. “I don’t know about star power, but I do know about player power, and he was the best on that team.’’
Girardi and Cano may not have agreed on where the left-handed hitter was best suited in the lineup, but Girardi gushed about a player the Yankees are going to have a very difficult time replacing.
The Yankees have officially added Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury to the lineup and are close to announcing Carlos Beltran. Still …
“We’ve added some guys to help fill that role. I don’t necessarily think that we’re done. But Robbie Cano is not a guy that’s easily replaced. That is the bottom line. A .300 hitter, drives in 100 runs and hits 30 home runs. That is not an easy place, especially from the second‑-place position [in the batting order],’’ Girardi said. “So we’re probably going to have to add offense in other places. You’re not going to find too many second basemen that put up that type of numbers. So you’re going to have to add it somewhere, but he’s going to be missed.’’
One possible replacement is free-agent Omar Infante, who has also drawn interest from the Royals, Dodgers and Blue Jays. Infante played for the Tigers last season.
The Yankees view Kelly Johnson, whom they signed last week, as a utility player.