In an almighty New York Yankee lineup, one that leads all of baseball in batting average, home runs and RBIs, the majority of the production is coming from an unlikely source. Through 54 games this season, Robinson Cano has hit .373 with 12 HRs and 43 RBI’s, easily in the top ten in the American League in all three categories, with his average being tops in the AL. Coming into Thursday’s victory against the Baltimore Orioles, Cano had a 16 game hitting streak which he extended to 17 games with a double in the first inning, bringing home Derek Jeter. More impressive is the defensive work Cano has put in this season, as the slick fielding second baseman has only committed one error this season on over 270 chances. Also on his resume for 2010 is the fact that Cano leads the Yankees in EVERY offensive category, sporting a very impressive 1.046 OPS, good for fourth in the league.

 When Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez get most of the credit for the danger that comes with the Yankee lineup, Cano has been the reason that the New York offense has been so good this season. When people talk about the best second basemen in baseball, Dustin Pedroia, Chase Utley and Brandon Phillips are usually the first names mentioned. But so far this season, Cano has easily distinguished himself as the best at his position, as he not only has produced at the plate but has been magnificent on defense. Most suprising is the power that Cano has showed early on. Hitting a career high 25 long balls in 2009, the 27 year old Dominican is easily on pace to collipse that mark with over 100 games remaining on the schedule. Although the Yankees trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 2.5 games in the East, things look bright in the Bronx. With Curtis Granderson and Jorge Posada on the way back from injury, the additions of their bats will only add protection for Cano, A-Rod, and the struggling Mark Teixeira. Traveling to Toronto to face the division rival Blue Jays, Cano looks to extend his hot streak against a team whom the Bronx Bombers have yet to play this season.

On the first day of free agency for Major League Baseball, the NL’s best team traded for one of the best pitchers in the league but also took a risk in the process. After failing to acquire Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay before the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies finally completed a deal with the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays just minutes ago. According to SI.com, Philadelphia dealt the dominant Cliff Lee to Seattle and it is rumored that Halladay will sign an extension in the coming days after indicating his interest in Philadelphia.

The puzzler is why the Phillies would give up Lee, who after going 7-4 in the regular season with the Phils, was as dominant as any pitcher in postseason history, compiling a 4-0 record including Philadelphia’s only wins in the World Series.

The remaining details of the trade has yet to be known but it has been noted that Seattle wanted an ace and got their Christmas wish today. With any big trade, prospects will be involved so look for the Blue Jays to receive younger players as a future movement has apparently been started on Canada’s lone representative. Rumors are that Philadelphia will also receive prospects from Seattle, after the Phillies sent several top prospects to Cleveland last August for Lee.

With Halladay, 31, consistency has been his mantra and with a 17-10 record last season with a 2.79 ERA including nine shutouts, the product on the mound won’t change for the NL’s champs. Lee, on the otherhand has been shaky throughout his career, but as of late has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Looking to take down the New York Yankees, two of the MLB’s best teams made a splash today. With the aforementioned Halladay heading to Philly, the Yanks’ arch rival Boston Red Sox signed RHP John Lackey to a five year deal. Whether on not Halladay will be more effective than Lee remains to be seen but for now this trade is a big time blockbuster in a rather quiet off-season.

With the bats missing home run threat Alex Rodriguez, the lineup still produced, everyone except Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui had a hit. Going into the top of the ninth, the score was deadlocked and Lowe looked to have another solid inning in a year where the 26 year old reliever has compiled a 3.08 ERA. Lowe wasn’t effective as the first batter he faced in the inning went yard with Mark Teixeira rounding the bases to give the Yankees the lead. Teixeira, who is the leading candidate for AL MVP, only strengthened his case for the award, hitting his 30th home run and racking up his 86th RBI. Derek Jeter also had a solid game, going 1-4 and keeping his batting average at .318, an average tops among AL shortstops beside Jason Bartlett. Nick Swisher came up clutch in the ninth, providing some insurance with a blooper in the ninth which scored Jorge Posada to give Rivera a two run lead, something #42 would never give up.

Leading 4-2 in the last inning, Rivera wasted no time, throwing nine pitches and getting three outs without giving up a hit. For the Yankees, Friday’s win only strengthens the hope for fans for a World Series championship in 2009 as the team rallied around their best player and won even without Rodriguez. If the starters can get at least into the seventh inning with a lead, they should expect to get the victory as the bullpen has been excellent this half of the season. With Rivera picking up his 34th save of the season, a Major League best, the Yankees improve to 73-43, the best in baseball.

Starting with the offensive attack, Mark Teixeira lead out the charge, going 2-4 with a HR and another RBI. Teixeira’s home run came at the right time, with the Yankees deadlocked 2-2, only two pitches removed from Johnny Damon’s HR to tie it. Daniel Bard hung a high curveball that Tex punished deep into the New York night. That would prove to be the game winner as the Yankees piled on two more runs in the inning to take a commanding 5-2 lead, a three run lead that Mariano Rivera would not give up, picking up his 32nd save on the season.

The starting pitching for each team was phenomenal as Andy Pettitte and Jon Lester duked it out. Pettitte threw seven scoreless innings, only allowing five hits but striking out four. Lester, who coming into the game was 2-0 in three decisions against the Yankees, also threw seven strong, allowing a run on five hits, striking out seven. For New York, just to get Lester out of the game with a lead was key, as the Bronx Bombers torched the bullpen for four runs in just one inning, a bullpen hurting from the loss of Justin Masterson, a lights out pitcher in the Cleveland pen who was dealt for Victor Martinez. Martinez on the other hand has been struggling as of late, only going 1-4 last night to drop his average to .286. Martinez did homer off of Phil Coke in the eighth which gave the Sox a temporary lead, but was quickly taken away with the superhero antics of Johnny Damon and Teixeira.

Now holding a 6.5 game lead of the Red Sox, the Yankees can relatively “cruise” into the playoffs if they can continue to play ball at their current level and use the advantages of Yankee Stadium. For Boston, they will need to step up as the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays are hot on their tail. Texas is a half game back and Tampa is only two and a half. Boston’s next series is with Texas, a team that took two out of three last time they played. With their best pitchers going down in New York, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buccholz, Texas could use their big bats to slid into the Wild Card slot. Tampa, a team that owns the Sox as of late could also make a big push. In baseball, anything is possible so it remains to be seen what the rest of the season holds for both teams.

For a city that never sleeps, the Yankee pitching put the Boston bats to rest early in the series and the results showed as the Bronx Bombers took all four games. So Sox fans, watch out the rest of the season. When you thought that you couldn’t beat Tampa but could always rely on New York, that is no longer the case as the Yankees just destroyed you. Hope for Victor to play like he did in Cleveland or the season may end early for the Ped Sox.