No Surprise Robinson Cano Suspended for PEDs

by  |  May 17, 2018

jackiemicucci

Well, what do you know, Robinson Cano has been hit with an 80-day suspension for taking a banned substance. Is anyone surprised?

I’m not saying that because the Seattle Mariners second baseman is buds with other known cheaters like Nelson Cruz and Melky Cabrera—who both served lengthy suspensions for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Or because he was connected to the Biogenesis clinic—which famously provided his New York Yankees teammate Alex Rodriguez with PEDs eventually leading to his 211-game suspension. Or because Cano is from the Dominican Republic where baseball is king and slugging your way out of poverty by any means possible is quite enticing.

No. I’m not surprised because these periodic suspensions have become part of the fabric of baseball. There’s a lot of money to be made and a lot of games to be played. Contracts are ridiculously high so why not reach for that extra little something-something to set you up for life? The shocking part is that a player of Cano’s caliber was stupid enough to get caught.

For the record, what snagged him was not a PED, but a banned substance, Furosemide a drug most commonly used by those suffering from congestive heart failure. It’s a diuretic that makes you pee, which comes in real handy if you’re trying to flush something out of your system.

There was a time when many of us where surprised and outraged—myself included. In the days of Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds, I remember being upset. I remember thinking these guys were tainting the game. At least my guys were clean.

Then as suspicions swirled around the likes of Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi and David Ortiz and the super stars began to fall… Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun, Jhonny Peralta, Dee Gordon… it became harder to get worked up. And it certainly didn’t stop any of these players from getting a payday we mere mortals could only dream about.

I’m sure when Cano returns to Safeco Field in August he’ll be greeted by a standing ovation from the home crowd like so many suspended players before him. No one will be surprised.