Robinson Cano is back in New York wearing pinstripes, but with a slight color change. This time around, his No. 24 jersey will have the Mets' blue and orange, and he couldn't be happier as he donned it for the first time on Tuesday during his introductory press conference.
But Cano doesn't want too much change from his last stint in New York, more specifically what position he plays. Speaking with SNY's Steve Gelbs, the 36-year-old said second base -- his natural position -- is where he hopes to play every game with the Mets.
"To be honest, it's hard when you have to move around when you play second base for 14 years," he said. "Hopefully I'll be able to play second base every day."
Cano began his Major League career at second base for the Yankees back in 2005, and he stayed there even after he joined the Mariners in 2014. However, Seattle had him play first base for 14 games and third base for two games last season, a time he said categorized as "bad memories."
Over 88.2 innings at first and 15 innings at third, Cano made one error combined. At second base, he owns a .988 fielding percentage in over 2,025 games played.
Whether or not the Mets intend to only use Cano at second base will certainly be discussed moving forward. But for now, Cano couldn't be anymore excited to come back east to play in the Big Apple.
He initially heard the trade rumors on the news, but when the Mariners called saying the deal was about to go down, he didn't waste any time doing his part to set it in motion.
"They wanted me to waive my no-trade, I said yes right away," he said.
"This is the capital of baseball here. ...I committed right away because they want to win and that's my goal."