Mets’ Cano suspended 162 games for PED use

Strike two against Robinson Cano. The New York Mets second baseman was suspended for 162 games by Major League Baseball on Wednesday after he tested positive for a performance enhancing drug for the second time in his career.

Cano, 38, will miss the 2021 season and lose $ 24 million in salary. The eighttime AllStar hit .316 with 10 home runs and 30 RBI sin this year’s pandemic shortened season.

Minus Cano, the Mets could give offensive sparkplug Jeff

McNeil a regular spot at second base — probably his most natural position. The suspension also might prompt them to pursue free agent infielder DJ LeMahieu, an AL MVP contender the past two years with the Yankees.

Cano’s penalty came less than two weeks after Steve Cohen bought the Mets for $ 2.4 billion.

The commissioner’s office said Cano tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. He was penalized 80 games in May 2018 while with Seattle after a positive test for Furosemide, a diuretic that some athletes have used to mask other substances.

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

1 Ron Fowler has stepped down as executive chairman of the San Diego Padres and lead investor Peter Seidler has been approved by fellow Major League Baseball owners to take over control of the team as chairman.

Seidler, 60, previously held the title of general partner. He is a grandson of Walter O’Malley, who moved the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, and a nephew of Peter O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers until 1998.