Does Robinson Cano’s 80-Game Suspension Put Surefire-HOFer Resume Up in Smoke?

Robinson Cano’s path may still lead him to Cooperstown in the end, but it just got a lot less direct.

With eight All-Star appearances and a laundry list of statistical feats under his proverbial belt, the Seattle Mariners’ veteran second baseman entered Tuesday as a fairly surefire future Hall of Famer. But he’s exiting the day with a black mark that promises to throw that into question for years to come.

Major League Baseball announced that Cano has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for Furosemide, a banned substance. In a statement posted to social media, the 35-year-old acknowledged the suspension and offered his side of the story:cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale

The key passage reads: “This substance was given to me by a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic to treat a medical ailment. While I did not realize at the time that I was given a medication that was banned, I obviously now wish that I had been more careful.”

Anyone with access to WebMD can look up that Furosemide does indeed have benefits as a medical treatment. Among the ailments it’s used to treat is high blood pressure. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com heard from a source that it was exactly that which necessitated Cano’s using it.

Even still, this is one for the file labeled “That’s Not Gonna Fly.”cheap nfl nike jersey

Furosemide is banned by both MLB (and the World Anti-Doping Agency) because it’s a diuretic that can be used as a masking agent for performance-enhancing drugs. Per stipulations in the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, the league only needed to prove that this is why Cano was using it.

The timing was right for Cano to give up the fight. He was already due to be sidelined for a while with a broken hand that he suffered Sunday. He’s going to kill two birds with one stone by serving his suspension while he’s also recovering from his injury.

The Mariners will miss him, though. Cano had been hitting .287 with an .825 OPS. In light of the team’s starting pitching issues, that offense was extremely valuable. Not having it for 80 games could end up costing the Mariners their first trip to the postseason since 2001.cheap nfl jerseys china nike

Even if they get there, Cano won’t be joining them. The rules state he has to sit October out, too.

At least the Mariners will save about $12 million out of Cano’s $24 nike nfl jerseys cheap china million salary. Alas, they’re only going to be halfway through his 10-year, $240 million deal when this season is over. That second half now looks even more iffy than it already did relative to Cano’s age and up-and-down production.

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