Robinson Cano was back on a baseball field Wednesday.
After being suspended for the 2021 season due to a second PED violation, Cano made his winter ball debut with Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Republic, going 1-for-4 with a single and a strikeout. Estrellas Orientales beat Tigres del Licey, 3-1.
The 39-year old Cano, who’s on the Mets’ books for roughly $20 million each of the next two seasons, had a strong 2020, slashing .316/.352/.544 in 49 games. But if the Mets bring back Javier Baez, there isn’t an obvious spot for Cano to play every day.
If the National League adds a DH, that spot would seem to make sense for the eight-time All-Star. Sandy Alderson suggested this week at the GM meetings that third base was a possibility, but Cano has played just two games at the position in his career (for Seattle in 2018).
Robinson Cano is set to return to the Mets for the 2022 season after being suspended the entire 2021 campaign following a second PED violation. Anthony J. CausiPerhaps Cano, the longtime Yankee whom the Mets acquired from the Mariners in the 2018 Jarred Kelenic trade, could be a weapon off the bench, but $20 million is a hefty price tag for a pinch-hitter.
“We’re just going to see,” Alderson told reporters at the GM meetings. “… I think how he is received will depend on how he conducts himself and explains himself between now and spring training.”
