Robinson Cano is now the nexus of the New York Yankees. The second baseman has been given the keys to the third slot in the Yankees’ batting order acknowledging that he is the key and best hitter in the Yankees’ lineup. Recent telecasts by ESPN gushed on and on about how Jim Leyland loves Cano and thinks he is one of the brightest stars on the planet. Old ESPN broadcasts featured Joe Morgan, the old Hall of Fame second baseman, raving about the guy. But how good is Robinson Cano really? We keep hearing that one day he will win the batting title. Will that ever happen? Does it matter? And looming in the background of all of this is the knowledge that the Yankees will soon have to decide how much to pay Cano to keep him playing for the Yankees in light of the $189 million cap the sons of Steinbrenner keep talking about for 2014.

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Freddy Garcia must have one mighty good looking fastball in his side sessions:

Pineda hit 94 a couple of times in his last outing but for the most part has lived in the 90-91 MPH range, a good neighborhood for, say, Freddy Garcia, a pitcher used to getting outs on his off-speed stuff…

90-91 would be good velocity for Freddy Garcia? Well I should certainly say so…considering that Garcia averaged just 87.2 MPH on the pitch in 2011, and hasn’t cracked the 90 MPH mark since 2005. To be fair, however, I did have to go to an extremely obscure place on the internet to find that information, so I can completely understand why someone who gets paid to watch/cover baseball could easily make that kind of mistake.

I know I should be writing something about the $2.15 billion deal for the sale of the Dodgers out of bankruptcy to a buyer group featuring Earvin “Magic” Johnson. But the words won’t come.

$2.15 billion? $2,150,000 followed by another comma and three more zeros?

The reaction to this proposed sale (and it IS proposed; the deal must be approved by the Bankruptcy Court and Major League Baseball) is largely positive. Molly Knight likes it. Josh Fisher likes it. Maury Brown likes it.

As a Los Angeles resident, a Yankees fan living 5 miles from Dodger Stadium, I guess I should be happy too. But honestly, the deal leaves me at a loss for words.

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Best news of the day? Only one more week until Opening Day! Here’s some less exciting, but still worthy of your attention, items for this Friday morning:

• Andy Pettitte might make his spring debut by starting the final game of the exhibition schedule against the Mets, if he’s ready.
• Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Alex Rodriguez is looking to get back to form and have a monster season. I’m not entirely sure that someone didn’t mix up their 2012 Spring Training notebook with their 2011 version, honestly, because this sounds exactly like what A-Rod said last year. On the bright side, he was looking awfully good early in the year before a string of injuries limited him to just 99 games that were much less productive than we’ve all come to expect from A-Rod.
• Nick Swisher has been getting work in at the minor league complex as he tries to work out the groin injury that’s been bothering him recently. He could be back in a big league game, either as a DH or playing right field, today. Curtis Granderson was in last night’s lineup, which is obviously good news for his elbow. [Jennings]
• On the other hand, Corban Joseph has been shut down with a shoulder injury.
• Great news everyone: it’s Michael Pineda Day! Be sure to get your licks in early.