"With Alex Rodriguez out for a month, Robinson Cano is going to hit cleanup when he returns to the Yankee lineup Thursday. And you can bet he won't hit eighth the next time he makes the All-Star team.

Cano finished third in the American League MVP voting last year, yet you can make the case that he didn't arrive as a nationally known star until he put on a spectacular show in winning the Home Run Derby here Monday night.

"The whole world got to see why I'm so impressed with this kid," Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long said by phone yesterday. "I think he's going to get something good out of this, with all the national attention and everything.

"A lot of people around the country are saying, 'Wow, did you see the show Robinson Cano put on?' And the time is right because he's matured, he's reached the superstar level. He's going to have to hit cleanup for us for a while, and he'll respond to this type of attention."

Cano did seem more genuinely thrilled than many past winners, and said yesterday it was important to him to perform on such a national stage.

"You come to the All-Star Game, and people know you can play," he said, "but now you can show people what kind of power you have. So I'm going to be proud to compete with the best guys in the game and win it."

Cano had a quiet All-Star Game Tuesday night, grounding out twice to first base, and still his Derby performance might be remembered as a changing-of-the-guard moment for the Yankees. With age becoming more and more of an issue for A-Rod and Derek Jeter, both absent from the festivities here, Cano had his star-making moment, enhanced by the smiling, good-natured vibe he projects, not to mention that joyful leap into his father's arms."