Mets cut struggling Canó with $44.7M left on deal

Robinson Canó was cut Monday by the New York Mets with nearly $45 million remaining on his contract, ending an illfated marriage and perhaps signaling the end of his decorated major league career.

The slumping Canó was designated for assignment in a move announced as teams were required to trim their active rosters from 28 players to 26. Relegated to a part-time role, Canó was a casualty of the crunch as the first-place Mets chose to keep younger, more versatile bench players instead.

The 39-year-old Canó, who sat out last season, while serving his second suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, is batting .195 (8 for 41) with one home run and three RBIs in 43 plate appearances. He homered in the home opener April 15 against Arizona.

But has appeared in just 12 of 23 games, starting six at second base and five at designated hitter.

Despite his early struggles in a reduced role, the decision to jettison Canó was still a complicated one for the Mets — and not only because of all the money he’s owed.

He remained a popular veteran in the clubhouse happy to share his baseball wisdom.

An eight-time All-Star and twotime Gold Glove winner, Canó spent his first nine big league seasons with the New York Yankees and helped them win the 2009 World Series. He has won five Silver Slugger awards.

Canó has a .302 career batting average with 2,632 hits, 335 home runs, 571 doubles and 1,305 RBIs in 17 seasons.

He is owed $44,703,297 by the Mets from the remainder of the $240 million, 10-year contract he signed with Seattle. He has lost $36,258,065 because of the two drug suspensions.

New York has seven days to trade or release Canó, or send him outright to the minors — an assignment he would have