New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano has tested positive for PED’s for the second time in his career, and it changes the Mets whole offseason plans.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Cano has been suspended for the entire 2021 season due to taking a performance-enhancing drug for the second time in his career. He was first suspended while he was with the Seattle Mariners.
Since it is his second offense, he has to forfeit his entire $24 million salary. It saves the Mets $24 million to go spend on other positions on the team including catcher and the pitching staff.
Mets fans are happy Cano will not be suiting up for New York in 2021. He is not who he used to be and certainly hasn’t played anywhere to the level of what his contract says he should be playing at.
The biggest factor in all of this is the freed money to spend on free agents this winter. Cohen has $14.6 billion so money isn’t the problem but Cano not being paid frees up $24 million of space in the payroll–allowing for the Mets to spend more money without having to go over the Competitive Balance Tax.
Now, who can they afford?
J.T. Realmuto and Trevor Bauer are the two big fish on the market and will demand the biggest contracts on the free-agent market, and the Mets seem to be big players on both of them, even more so now.
Francisco Lindor is likely going to be traded before Opening Day from the Cleveland Indians, and they are expecting the Mets to be involved in trade discussions. If the Mets were to acquire him, then he could be double-play partners with DJ LeMahieu.
LeMahieu makes a ton of sense for the Mets now that there isn’t a locked-in player at second base and more money to spend. The Yankees just paid Gerrit Cole $324 million and there isn’t a clear number of how far they are willing to go if they have to outbid the Mets.
Cano will probably not get another playing job in baseball ever again. While it is a bad thing for the game to see another positive steroid test, it opens up a whole lot of possibilities for the Mets to make themselves into a World Series contender in 2021.
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Main Credit Image: Embed from Getty Images
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