New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug stanozolol and will be suspended for the entire 2021 season, according to a statement Wednesday by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
It is the second PED suspension for Cano, 38, who missed 80 games in 2018 after testing positive for a diuretic while with the Seattle Mariners.
A second positive test results in an automatic 162-game suspension, according to the joint drug agreement between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. Cano will forfeit his $24 million salary.
Cano was traded to the Mets in a now-fateful December 2018 deal that sent top prospect Jarred Kelenic to the Mariners. After struggling in his first season with the team, he rebounded to hit .316/.352/.544 this season and was expected to play a significant role as the Mets play their first season under new owner Steve Cohen and new front-office management.
Cano, who previously signed a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Mariners, has two years and $48 million remaining on his contract. The Mariners will pay down $7.5 million of that.
In 16 seasons, he is a career .303 hitter with 334 homers, 1,302 RBIs and two Gold Gloves. Cano became a star with the New York Yankees before signing with the Mariners. His ban during the 2018 season made him among the most prominent players penalized under baseball’s anti-doping rules.
At that time, Cano said the diuretic “was given to me by a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic to treat a medical ailment.” Cano said he didn’t realize the drug was banned by MLB.
Cano has 2,624 career hits and Hall of Fame-caliber statistics for a second baseman. But with his baseball future uncertain at age 38, his latest suspension certainly puts his pursuit of 3,000 hits — and his chances for Cooperstown — in serious jeopardy.