Robinson Cano will not play any competitive baseball for the 2021 New York Mets due to his second positive PED test. The season-long suspension cannot keep the 38-year old on the sidelines as Cano is joining the Dominican Winter League’s Estrellas Orientales.
Cano joins the team right as the playoffs start and will share the middle infield with Fernando Tatis Jr. He spent time with the Estrellas from 2006-2008, when he was still making a name for himself, then did a one-game stint in 2016. The games he plays in DR will be the only legitimate competition he can join until the 2021 offseason.
Even though the Mets received a “get out of jail for free” card for 2021, the Mets are stuck with him for 2022 and 2023. When Cano returns, he will likely get the same treatment Yoenis Cespedes got after his long absence. He will enter a clubhouse and organization that has moved on and put him in a bench player role.
No matter what the Mets’ situation becomes, the possibility of Cano’s final games coming in meaningless winter league games is on the table. Cano’s has lost all hall of fame candidacy, and his positive tests will linger with him for the rest of his career. Success will be attributed to PED use, and failure would be due to the lack of illegal help in his body. Cano stepping on a major league diamond again will be for the large paycheck.
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