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          New York Yankees

          Cowherd: Cano plays harder for DR

          • Andrew Marchand, ESPN Senior WriterMar 20, 2013, 12:37 PM ET
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              Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »
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          To which I say, "Nonsense." Robinson Cano is an equal opportunity non-hustler in certain situations.

          Before we go further let's make a few things clear. Cano works very hard at the game of baseball. Of the big stars on the Yankees, he may be the one that takes more extra hitting than anyone. The guy is dedicated to his craft.

          Still, we have all seen that, at times, Cano doesn't run as briskly to first as he should, On occasion, maybe he could have dived for a ball that he didn't. But I don't think that has anything to do with what uniform Cano is wearing. He is one of the best players in baseball as a Yankee or as a member of the DR.

          "Robinson Cano plays a lot harder in those [WBC] games than he does for the Yankees," Colin Cowherd said on his ESPN Radio show Wednesday.

          I like Cowherd's show a lot. I'm a guest on it sometimes, but I think Cowherd has it completely wrong on Cano.

          Colin was making a larger point about how the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico cared more about the WBC than the United States. I agree with Colin on that one. Winning that tournament means more to those islands than it does to the United States.

          But did Cano play harder for this country than he does for the Yankees? I didn't see it. I don't see it.

          I think Cano plays hard most of the time. With a larger amount of games for his country, there would be times where the same lapses we see on occasion in the Bronx would pop up. Cano has great pride in his country, but also in his pinstripes.