Padres sign Canó following his release by the Mets
The San Diego Padres have signed veteran second baseman Robinson Canó to a major league contract and plan to use him as a lefthanded bat off the bench.
Padres acting manager Ryan Christenson said he could get some occasional starts at second and designated hitter.
The New York Mets, who released Canó on Sunday, owe him nearly $45 million remaining on his original contract signed with Seattle.
Canó was designated for assignment on May 2 after hitting .195 with one homer and three RBIs in 43 plate appearances for the Mets. He sat out last season serving a second suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.
Canó, 39, has a .302 career batting average with 2,632 hits, including 335 home runs and 571 doubles. and 1,305 RBIs over 17 seasons. NO CANCER FOR PADRES' MELVIN >> The San Diego Padres say no cancer was found when manager Bob Melvin had prostate surgery on Wednesday.
Melvin, 60, was recovering at home Friday after being released from the hospital, the team said. GUARDIANS' NAYLOR ON COVID IL >> Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor was added to the team's COVID-19 injured list, marking the first player to be sidelined by the team's recent outbreak.
Cleveland's game at the Chicago White Sox on
Wednesday was postponed because of COVID-19 concerns, and the team was off Thursday. Pitching coach Carl Willis ran the team Friday night at Minnesota after manager Terry Francona was among seven coaches placed in health and safety protocols.
Naylor is batting .347 with five homers and 22 RBIs in 20 games.
He will need to be out either 10 days from the day of symptom onset or after receiving two negative tests.
That means the members of Cleveland's coaching staff who were sent home will not rejoin the team in Minnesota. MARINERS SEND DOWN KELENIC >> Rather than make his Citi Field debut against the team that traded him, Jarred Kelenic was demoted to Triple-A Tacoma by the Seattle Mariners on Friday after the team arrived in New York for a weekend series against the Mets.
The outfielder was hitting .140 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 30 games.
Kelenic, 22, was the sixth overall pick by New York in the 2018 amateur draft and was traded to the Mariners that December in the deal that brought Edwin Díaz and Canó to the Mets.
Kelenic made his big league debut May 13 last year and was demoted in early June following an 0-for-39 slide that left his batting average at .096. Recalled following the All-Star break, Kelenic finished with a .181 average, 14 homers and 43 RBIs.