"Twice in 2004, the Yankees nearly used a young Robinson Cano in a trade for an established impact player.

Cano was on a list of players the Texas Rangers could have chosen after the Yanks agreed to swap Alfonso Soriano for Alex Rodriguez that February. Two months later, the Rangers picked 18-year-old infielder Joaquin Arias as the player-to-be-named.

Arias, a .276 hitter in 113 major league games, is currently a non-roster invitee in the Kansas City Royals' camp.

In June 2004, the Yankees were in pursuit of Kansas City center fielder Carlos Beltran and the Royals liked Cano — but they didn't need a second baseman.

"They were looking for a third baseman and a catcher and they had us move him [Cano] over to third from second to see if he could play there," said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, recalling the discussions.

After a four-game experiment, the Royals decided on a three-team trade that netted them infielder Mark Teahen from Oakland and catcher John Buck from Houston.

Cano quietly moved back to second base and blossomed into the player the Yankees had hoped for, signing him out of the Dominican Republic as an 18-year-old.

"We always thought he'd be an offensive second baseman. We always thought he could really hit," said Cashman, though it wasn't until spring training of 2005 – the year he made his big-league debut – when the club felt, "this guy is going to be really special."

Cano cracked into the game's elite class last season, and his breakthrough 2010 has him wanting more.

"You want to stay on that level. I don't want to go back down again," said Cano, who pledged to keep working at being the player the Yankees always envisioned.

Cashman bet on that proposition before the 2008 season, when he signed Cano to a four-year, $30 million contract with two club options worth another $29 million through 2013."