NEW YORK — Mets infielder Robinson Cano tested positive for stanozolol and will be suspended for the entire 2021 season.
Stanozolol is a steroid and a violation of MLB's performance-enhancing drug policy. It's the second time in Cano's career that he's run afoul of the policy; he was suspended 80 games in 2018 for testing positive for a diuretic. (Diuretics are banned under the PED rules because they can often mask PED use.)
The automatic length of a suspension for a second positive test is 162 games.
"We were extremely disappointed to be informed about Robinson's suspension," Mets president Sandy Alderson said in a statement.
Cano said in 2018 that a doctor in the Dominican Republic had prescribed him furosemide for a "medical ailment."
The Mets acquired Cano after the season he was suspended in Seattle, in an infamous trade that brought Cano and Edwin Diaz to New York in exchange for a package headlined by Jay Bruce and star prospect Jarred Kelenic.
Cano struggled in his first season with the Mets, hitting .256/.307/.428 and taking repeated trips to the injured list. But he bounced back in 2020, slashing .316/.352/.544 and playing 49 out of 60 games.
At 38, Cano is one of the oldest active players in the majors. He'll be suspended for the entire 2021 season and lose his $24 million salary. But the 10-year, $240 million deal Cano signed with Seattle in 2014 goes through the 2023 season; the Mariners will pay a small percentage of that, and new Mets owner Steve Cohen is worth around $15 billion.
According to published reports, there was far less PED testing in baseball than normal this season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
