Wilpon: I don’t think Cano’s a drug cheat
The Mets do not see Robinson Cano as a drug cheat.
The 36-year-old second baseman is coming off a season interrupted by an 80-game suspension he received after testing positive for a banned substance. Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, however, said first-year GM Brodie Van Wagenen quickly calmed any concerns he may have had about Cano’s character.
“I don’t think he’s a drug cheat,” Wilpon said Tuesday after the introductory press conference at Citi Field. “I could be proven wrong, but I don’t think he’s a drug cheat.”
Van Wagenen would not expand on his conversation with Wilpon, citing client confidentiality. The Mets’ first-year GM was Cano’s agent at the time of the suspension for testing positive for Furosemide.
Van Wagenen, however, was quick to point out that Cano was not caught using a steroid.
Cano tested positive for a diuretic often used to dilute urine samples and fool drug tests.
“If I had any concern about what Robbie’s physical state or performance ability going forward is, I would not have made the deal,” Van Wagenen said. “I do think it’s important remembering, Robbie was not suspended for a PED. He was suspended for a diuretic.”
Cano would not address his suspension Tuesday; instead he talked about his excitement being back in New York.
Van Wagenen said he was confident in bringing Cano to the Mets.
That is putting himself on the line, considering if Cano fails another test he would miss an entire season. Given that Van Wagenen has publicly vouched for Cano’s character, and gone to bat for him with Wilpon, the GM has risked his reputation with this deal.
At the time of his suspension in May, Cano admitted taking the diuretic, but denied cheating.