The Diablos Rojos of the Mexican League announced that they have signed Robinson Cano, as relayed by Enrique Rojas of ESPN.
Cano, now 41, has a lengthy list of accomplishments in his big league career, though his legacy is also burdened with a couple of suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. After thriving in the early parts of his career with the Yankees, he signed a 10-year, $240M deal with the Mariners going into the 2014 season, which was tied for the third-largest contract in MLB history at that time.
He continued to perform at an All-Star level with his new club but was hit with his first PED suspension in May of 2018, an 80-game penalty for testing positive for furosemide. He returned to the M’s later in that season but was traded to the Mets the following winter, going to Queens alongside Edwin Díaz with a five-player package going back to Seattle.
Cano had a bit of a down year in 2019 and then a huge bounce-back in 2020 but received his second suspension in November of the latter year. Due to a positive test for Stanozolol, he was given a 162-game suspension, wiping out his entire 2021 campaign. He returned in 2022 but ended up bouncing around the league. He was released by the Mets after playing in just 12 games then signed with the Padres. He got into another dozen contests with that club before getting released again, then returned to the Friars on a minor-league deal before getting traded to Atlanta for cash. Atlanta selected his contract but let him go after nine games.
Cano has been a free agent since August of 2022. His mega contract ran through 2023, meaning he could have been signed for the league minimum last year with the Mets on the hook for the remainder, but no club decided to do so. That’s not terribly surprising, considering his age, the suspensions and his .150/.183/.190 slash line in limited playing time in 2022. He hasn’t been totally out of action, as he has been playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic in the past two winters and also played for the DR team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
It seems his desire to play remains and he’ll be joining the Diablos Rojos for 2024. His MLB track record consists of 2,267 games with 2,639 hits, including 335 home runs. He won the World Series with the Yanks in 2009 and has eight All-Star games, five Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves on his résumé. Like many other players connected to PEDs over the years, the framing of his accolades will be contested for years to come.
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