As the New York Mets have been sold officially and they work to start making that transition in the front office. The Mets have received news that they will be without their second baseman, Robinson Canó, for the entire 2021 season.
Canó tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) for the second time in his career. This means he will forfeit his entire $24 million salary for the 2021 season. He will still have $48 million coming his way between the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Robinson Cano will lose his $24 million salary during his 2021 suspension, but he will still have $48 million coming his way in 2022-23 per his contract with the Mets.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 18, 2020
In 2020, Canó played in 49 games for the Mets, where he hit .316/.352/.544 with 10 home runs and 30 RBI. However, he is going to be sitting out his age-38 season after the positive PED test. While still with the Seattle Mariners, Canó had tested positive for PEDs and ended up getting an 80-game ban from the league for that. This was right after he had been placed on the Injured List (IL) with a fractured hand, so he went through the recovery while being injured.
The Mets will have to work around this and work to come up with a new solution for their second baseman. It also looks like the Mariners definitely won the trade that sent Canó over to the Mets, who are now footing a step bill for the second baseman. While they will not have to pay the second baseman in 2020, his $48 million over the following two seasons will be just as costly.
New Mets owner Steve Cohen has made it clear that he wants the Mets to win a championship within five years, but $24 million being paid to Canó in two of the first three years will be tough.
