The Yankees, joining a growing trend in baseball, are on the verge of locking up Robinson Cano to a four-year, $30 million contract that will cover Cano’s remaining years of arbitration eligibility and extend two seasons into what would have been free agency years for the 25-year-old. The move is similar to what the Mets did when they locked up Jose Reyes (four years, $23.25 million) and David Wright (six years, $55 million) to long-term contracts, however the strategy is a departure from the philosophy the Yankees have utilized for years. Via the Daily News:

The Yankees have long believed it’s better to go year-to-year on contracts with their young players, figuring their outsized checkbook could always cover exploding costs if a player’s career took off faster than projected. Plus, they wouldn’t have guaranteed any cash if a player fizzled.

As we’ve written before, the changing economics of baseball have forced the Yankees to rethink a lot of what they’ve done in the past. It will be interesting to see …

Following the amazing festivities at the Garden last night, and the Rangers’ crucial if underwhelming victory over the Thrashers, attentions shifted back to the mysterious disappearance of defenseman Marek Malik.

The team should have known that you can’t keep the New York media in the dark for long, thus this morning the story has leaked that Malik indeed is unhappy with his playing time once again, and evidently refused to shake Coach Tom Renney’s hand following Tuesday’s win. Malik had been a healthy scratch in the team’s previous contest.

As the Journal News’ Sam Weinman points out on his blog, Renney has been one of the useless oaf’s “most stubbron backers” during Malik’s tenure here, much to the chagrin of fans who’d like to see the coach enforce accountability in the locker room. Of course that Tom Renney isn’t the type to speak ill of his players in front of cameras and tape recorders doesn’t mean he’s afraid to express himself behind closed doors. After all, …