From Yankees.Com:

NEW YORK -- The Yankees are betting big on Robinson Cano to continue his ascent as one of the game's better young talents, finalizing a new contract Thursday that could be worth as much as $57 million through 2013.

Achieving his desire for long-term financial security in New York, the 25-year-old Cano has agreed to a four-year deal that will pay him $28 million through 2011.

The contract also contains lucrative team options for 2012 and '13, years that could be worth $14 million and $15 million, respectively. Both option years contain $2 million buyouts on Cano, who would be 31 at the close of the sixth contract season.

Though not foreign to many clubs, the action of locking up a younger player to a multi-year contract signifies something of a change from the way the Yankees normally handle these situations. While eligible for arbitration this offseason, Cano would not have reached free agency for another four years.

A career .314 hitter in 414 big league games, Cano made his Major League debut with New York in 2005. The arbitration figures exchanged between Cano and the Yankees showed a sizable gap, with Cano requesting $4.55 million and the club offering $3.2 million. He earned $490,800 last year.

Cano had spoken optimistically about hoping to remain with the Yankees on a more permanent basis. He batted .306 with a career-high 19 home runs and 97 RBIs in 160 games for the Yankees in '07, overcoming a slow start as he attempted to follow up on a '06 campaign that saw him bat .342, good for third in the American League.

After opening last season with three home runs and 33 RBIs in his first 79 games, Cano went on a second-half surge, slugging 16 home runs and 64 RBIs over the last 81 games.

In August, Cano recalled the genesis of that offensive awakening. During the Yankees' June trip to Chicago, Cano said he took aside another young Yankees regular, outfielder Melky Cabrera, and told his friend if the languishing Yanks were to avoid a baseball-free October, both Cabrera and Cano would have to step up their production.

"I told [Cabrera] one day when we were struggling, 'We need to get on base. If you want to win, we have to get on base,'" Cano said. "'If those other guys don't find anybody on base, that's a different game. When you've got men on base, you do your job, no matter what.'"

The Yankees posted a Major League-best 51-25 record in the second half, winning 94 games and the AL Wild Card. Cano was one of New York's more productive players in the four-game AL Division Series against Cleveland, hitting .333 (5-for-15) with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored.

With Cano's long-term deal, the Yankees' infield could remain constant at least through 2010, with third baseman Alex Rodriguez inking a 10-year deal in December to join shortstop Derek Jeter on the left side.

In December, the Yankees instructed Cano to pull out of action with his Dominican Winter League club, the Orientales Estrellas, after playing 10 games, including one playoff contest, after he had been cleared for only six due to a previous injury.

Cano said he had suffered an abdominal strain in September, which he was testing in winter ball, but he reported no mobility problems heading into Spring Training.