Robinson Cano Banned for 162 Games After Positive P.E.D. Test

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/sports/baseball/robinson-cano-mets-suspended.html?referringSource=articleShare

Robinson Cano, a veteran second baseman for the Mets, will miss the entire 2021 season after receiving a 162-game suspension for his second violation of Major League Baseball’s drug prevention and treatment program.

Cano, an eight-time All-Star who had shown some decline in recent years, had something of a resurgence this year in baseball’s pandemic-shortened, 60-game season. That resurgence will now be scrutinized following the announcement of the suspension, in which the commissioner’s office said Cano had tested positive for Stanozolol, a synthetic steroid.

“We were extremely disappointed to be informed about Robinson’s suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program,” Sandy Alderson, the president of the Mets, said in a statement. “The violation is very unfortunate for him, the organization, our fans, and the sport. The Mets fully support M.L.B.’s efforts toward eliminating performance enhancing substances from the game.”

In 2018 while he was a member of the Seattle Mariners, Cano received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for furosemide, a diuretic better known as Lasix, which is frequently used as a masking agent for performance-enhancing drugs. Under the terms of the league’s testing program, a second positive test carries a mandatory 162-game suspension.