New York Mets infielder Robinson Cano won’t be playing in the entire 2021 season following a positive drug test for performance-enhancing substances. Cano’s $24 million salary is at risk after traces of the banned substance stanozolol were detected in his system.
The MLB commissioner Rob Manfred revealed the test results on Wednesday. The 38-year-old Cano previously served an 80-game suspension for a doping violation back in 2018. With this repeated offense, his penalty has now been increased to a 162-game ban, resulting in Cano missing a full season’s worth of games.
Mets president Sandy Alderson expressed his disappointment, stating, “We have been notified with great disappointment of Robinson’s suspension for breaching Major League Baseball’s Drug Prevention and Treatment Programme. This is a regrettable situation for him, the team, our supporters, and the sport. The Mets stand behind MLB’s initiatives in eradicating performance-enhancing substances from the sport.”
Cano posted his highest batting average of the decade in 2020, hitting .316 in the abbreviated 49-game season, a significant improvement from his .256 average in 2019. Despite losing his salary for the upcoming season, Cano is still set to earn considerable income due to nearing the conclusion of his 10-year, $240 million contract with the Mets.
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