The New York Mets had to watch their local rivals benefit from having one of the top second basemen who have played in the league for under a decade.
Robinson Cano was a key player in the New York Yankees’ success during that span, appearing in five All-Star Games, taking home two Gold Gloves, and hoarding five Silver Sluggers.
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He was among the finest players in the league, placing inside the top 10 four times and among the top five three times in the AL MVP voting.
Cano was acquired by the Mets in a seven-player transaction that included Edwin Diaz, Jay Bruce, Jarred Kelenic, Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista, and Justin Dunn in addition to the slugging second baseman.
It’s likely that New York should have seen the writing on the wall about what was to come.
They only acquired him because Cano, who tested positive for Furosemide and broke MLB’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, was suspended for 60 games while he was with the Seattle Mariners.
That occurred four seasons into his $240 million, ten-year contract that he signed with
The Mets most likely decided that this was a risk worth taking.
But after a successful 2020 season, he tested positive for Stanozolol in 2019, his first season in New York, and had the worst season of his career. As a result, he was suspended for 162 games.
In 2022, he was finally freed, capping his career with a slash line of.269/.315/.450, just 24 home runs, and 72 RBI.
Cano hasn’t participated in MLB play since, but he did play for two other teams that season.
The 41-year-old has now made the decision to sign a contract to play with the Diablos Rojos of the Mexican League, according to Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors.
The Mets’ finest outcome from the Cano trade was obtaining their