New York Mets: Robinson Cano suspended after positive PED test

New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cao has been suspended for the 2021 season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

The New York Mets just completely revamped their organization. And their new owner and new front office staff have a huge fire to put out immediately.

Their second baseman, Robinson Cano, has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and will be suspended for the duration of the 2021 season.

It’s a tough break for the Mets. Things were finally starting to look up. The Wilpons were out, Brodie Van Wagenen was ousted, and a whole new regime was prepared to make drastic improvements to the team.

Well, that new team needs to find a replacement for one of their most productive players in 2020. Cano will be suspended for the entirety of 2021 and forfeit his $24 million salary. Unfortunately, for the Mets, he’s still guaranteed $40 million between 2022 and 2023. So unless he retires, they’re still on the hook for the rest of his contract regardless of post-PED skillset decline.

And Cano, seemingly on a solid hall of fame track, has tarnished his legacy irrecoverably. He can likely kiss his Cooperstown plaque goodbye. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were products of the steroid era and even they haven’t crossed the 75% threshold yet. If they can’t do it, there’s no world in which Robinson Cano does.

So the Mets have some personnel decisions to make for 2021. Jeff McNeil, a great utility player who could easily fill in the hole Cano leaves at second base is a good internal option. He’s perfectly capable of matching Cano’s defensive prowess.

But offensively, Cano’s absence is going to leave a lot to be desired. Cano finished the 2020 season slashing .316/.352/.544 for an OPS of .896 in 49 games. The advanced stats are equally impressive, with a hard hit rate of 46.6% and a strikeout rate of just 13.2%. The Mets don’t have anyone in house that can fill that spot in the lineup.

What they do have, however, is the richest owner in baseball and an extra $24 million of salary to spend. It’s impossible to imagine that Cano’s suspension doesn’t thrust them fully into the Francisco Lindor sweepstakes. The Mets were already planning big off-season moves, but they need to plan some more now. Acquiring Francisco Lindor would be a great start. Adding George Springer would be even better. And throwing Trevor Bauer into that mix would make Mets fans completely forget that Cano was even supposed to be on their 2021 roster.

Whatever the New York Mets do, losing Robinson Cano is a big hit to the roster. And receiving his second PED-related suspension may be the final nail in the coffin of Cano’s legacy.