When the New York Mets begin spring training next week, one of the big absentees from Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida, will be Robinson Cano.
The second 38-year-old All-Star base will remain out of action all summer 2021, serving a second suspension for violating the Major League Baseball anti-doping program. And outside, it really means.
“Cano can’t play in the major leagues, but neither in the minor leagues, nor in an Asian or Mexican league, nor in an independent league. Basically, he can only play in the winter league in his country,” he said. ESPN Digital a source close to the Major League Baseball Players Association (Mlbpa).
“In general, we allow players suspended under the drug program to be in the stadium for training purposes if the club and the player so wish,” added Michael Teevan, vice president of communications for the commissioner’s office (MLB).
“The player cannot be on the field once the doors are open to the public. They cannot wear a uniform during the game. We allow players to continue exercising in the club spaces, to train and to improve their game during a suspension,” the goalkeeper added. of the word.
On November 18, Commissioner Rob Manfred reported that Cano had been suspended for the second time in his career for testing positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. Canó had already been sanctioned with a suspension of 80 games in May 2018, when he played for the Seattle Mariners, after testing positive for furosemide, a diuretic that some athletes use to cover the use of other substances.
A second positive result automatically takes the player off the field for 162 games, the equivalent of a full season in the major leagues. That being said, Canó will not receive any money from the $ 24 million salary in 2021 stipulating the 10-year contract and the $ 240 million he signed with the sailors in December 2013.
The Mets will still have to pay $ 48 million for the last two seasons (2022 and 2023) of the transaction they inherited when they bought Canó from Seattle in December 2018.
Canó reported to the Eastern Stars of the Dominican Professional Baseball League (Lidom) for the last matches of the winter season and later accompanied, as a reinforcement, the champions Águilas Cibaeñas in the Caribbean Series who played in Mazatlán, Mexico, last week.
The Eagles won all seven meetings in Mexico to bring the Dominican Republic its second consecutive title in the Caribbean and the 21st of all time.
Canó, who beat 20-7 and was chosen in the ideal team of the series, was among the members of the champion team invited to the national palace by President Luis Abinader.
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The Dominican players recognized the work of Yadier Molina.
“Spend it as a family, dedicate myself to my children and continue to physically prepare for the next winter league and the next season of the Major League,” Canó told Grandes en los Deportes (92.5 FM) on Wednesday about his intentions. use as long as it is available before changing into a major league uniform.
“A lot of people have approached me, but it’s not something I’ve taken into account. I’ll think about that later,” Canó said of trying to play somewhere to stay fit.
The joint MLB-MLBPA drug program, which was revised in 2014, says a first violation will result in a suspension of 80 free games. A player’s second offense will result in an unpaid suspension of 162 games and a third in a permanent baseball suspension.
Any player who is suspended for violating the anti-doping program will not be eligible to participate in the postseason during the season in which his suspension begins. He is also not eligible to participate in the All-Star Game.
Point three of the chapter suspending the anti-doping policy of Major League Baseball says:
“A player suspended for a violation of the program will be allowed to participate in spring training and extended training. However, any player who is not eligible to reinstate his suspension in the first forty (40) games of the following season (which is in the case of Canó), he will be forbidden to participate in any spring training match in the major league or minor league in which tickets are sold.
On the other hand, MLB and MLBPA had to negotiate a change in the system due to the case of the third Dominican-American base Alex Rodríguez, former teammate of Canó with the New York Yankees. Rodriguez challenged (and won) in court that the Yankees should pay him part of his 2014 salary (initially $ 25 million), even though he was suspended for all 162 games of the season.
“A-Rod” managed to raise nearly $ 6 million (a $ 3 million bonus scheduled for January, three months before opening day and $ 2.9 million in regular pay) due to the discrepancy between games (162) and days (183) covering a season. Major league players receive salaries throughout the season, not for their team’s games.
All this has been clarified and, since then, a player suspended for the whole season must give up the entire salary per year. He must also be off the field for the set time.
And that’s what Canó will have to do, at least, until the next winter season in his home country. “It’s what I’m planning. I’ll be with the Stars from the beginning and we hope we can win the championship,” he said.