Suppose I found for you a veteran ballplayer with a back-of-the-baseball-card set of career stats that includes a lifetime .303 batting average with an average of 24 HRs and 94 RBIs per season to go along with once respectable defense worth 8 All Star Game appearances and a pair of Gold Gloves? He'd be a pretty good addition for the Mets, right?
The problem is that in November of 2020 after that great shortened effort was his second league suspension for a drug called Stanozolol. Unlike many other steroid choices, this one is not known for making athletes bulk up like you saw with many baseball players during the PED heyday.
Rafael Palmeiro was one of the most notable examples of players cited for this substance and it is well known by professional trainers and athletes to be one that cannot be hidden by masking agents.
Back in 2018 Cano was cited for using a drug called Furosemide. It is commonly used to mask other PEDs and is a banned substance by most professional sports organizations including Major League Baseball. It helps induce rapid weight loss which is something many athletes seek as part of their body building regimen. Cano denied taking it but received an 80-game suspension for this infraction.
Now fast forward to the year 2020 and it comes time to ask a natural and disturbing question. When Cano rebounded from his mediocre 2019 to a stellar 2020 and subsequently was cited for the Stanozolol, was the season chemically enhanced? It certainly would seem to be a reasonable assumption as MLB doubled down and gave Cano a full 162 game unpaid leave for what he'd done. A three-time violator will get the Jenrry Mejia treatment and Cano finds himself on the cusp of a lifetime ban from the game.
To hear many fans grouse about it, they simply want uber-rich owner Steve Cohen to cut his losses as part of the cost of doing business and buy out Cano from his contract. That approach would be the easy thing to do to relieve the team of this sideshow, but it is not exactly pocket change. The Mets' share of his paycheck for the next two years is $20 million per season, so it's a $40 million gesture towards improving team chemistry and improving public relations. That's quite a tough pill to swallow.
Others are saying that the Mets should seek out another team that has a problematic contract on their hands and make one of those bad deal for bad deal transactions. That kind of approach is less overtly costly, but the $40 million would still need to be spent assuming the contract the Mets inherit would be of similar magnitude. The difference is that it's a fresh face for fans to love or hate instead of Cano.
The approach the Mets appear to be taking is to let Cano play Winter Ball in the Dominican Republic to reestablish himself as a formidable hitter and open up the trade possibility. They are also awaiting the CBA negotiations to see whether or not the DH is added to the National League. If so, then it creates a roster role for Cano's last two seasons in Queens.
Whether he reprises his solid numbers without steroids or if he's using again and produces well, he would excel as a DH. If he's caught using, the Mets are out of the situation without a payroll obligation. This approach makes sense from a business perspective.
While many feel that the best approach is to usher him out of town (or at least out of the locker room), the fact remains that he's owed $40 million between now and the end of the 2023 season. If he can hit, why get rid of him? If he can't, then he's a problem that might result in a necessary contract termination for performance reasons. Right now it appears to be premature to take drastic steps until he proves capable or not.
THE CANO CONUNDRUM - I would like to see Steve Cohen somehow squeeze Cano to take a salary cut, since his performance may have been PED enhanced when he signed his contract, causing the team (Seattle) to have been more willing to pay him a ton of $$ at ages 39 and 40. Unlikely, but I still think it should be allowed in baseball. A rule something like, "it's your second violation, so not only are you suspended for a year, in your remaining years, you get a 50% haircut. If you don't like it, your team can opt to release you and you can see if any other team is interested."
ReplyDeleteIf he stays, pray for a DH. If there is no DH, it will get really sticky.
Interestingly, Fangraphs had him projected as a 39 year old at 452 plate appearances, .256/.310/.400. Is that possible?
Well, A Rod had a very solid year at age 39 after missing a full year. At 40 though, he was crap. Only time will tell.
I'm betting on mediocrity. If so, release him at the first opportunity and bite the bullet.
My hopes is the DH.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tom, but I’d like to add that I want the roster spot to protect Oller or another player that will give me more for many years than Cano will give me for now.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Protect Oller.
ReplyDeleteI think we are stuck with him due to the $$$ (as all of you guys have alluded to)..........with that said, he wouldn't be a horrible player to have on the bench as depth for 2B/3B and DH. Not worth the$$$ AT ALL, but it's a sunk cost at this point, so the team should make the best of the situation.
ReplyDeleteIf Baez comes back, then you will see a bit of a roster crunch, but I am hoping they let him walk and put McNeil back at 2B.
I’m thinking Cano can be thenextEdgar Martinez!
ReplyDeleteRegarding Player Personnel
ReplyDeleteGood article by Reese Kaplan recently, one which covers many of the proverbial bases.
My take is that I cannot see re-signing Javier Baez for here despite his very good NYM batting average once here in 2021. The reasons are simply these: Javier Baez can get injured a lot, he strikes out a lot (953 times in his career), and carries with him a .264 BA, which to me is still sort of (well) so-so.
The big question with him (to me) is where do you bat him a 2022 NYM batting lineup?
Very good question.
And do the 2021 NY Mets really need him in the three - six batting slots with hopefully (fingers crossed): (3) JD Davis 22 HR/.301 BA in 2019, .285 BA in 2021 playing with just one hand in play (4) Pete Alonso, (5) Robbie Cano, (6) Francisco Lindor. Newbie player 3B Mark Vientos (in the seven slot until settles into MLB, then sky), and in the eight slot the NYM catcher, whomever that player may be.
Summary
So most of all the NYM do need a number two batter batting behind Brandon Nimmo at the top of the order. The best possible solution to this dilemma may be free agent (OF) Starling Marte. Starling Marte is a career .289 BA hitter/has a low strikeout to innings ratio/and in 2021 had 47 stolen bases (himself) while the Luis Rojas "analytics version" of the NY Mets had a grand total of 54 stolen bags total as a team.
Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte could make for one of the most dynamic leadoff tandems ever here. The NY Mets need to do things right now beginning in 2022. No more sideways.
My Take
If the Mets were to get only OF Starling Marte and a really good top end of the rotation lefty starter for between Jake and Noah, then I do believe that the NY Mets would have a bona fide opportunity to go deep into the playoffs.
Current Mets boards (elsewhere of course) are saying that the Mets are sniffing not only Robbie Ray but possibly re-signing starter Marcus Stroman. My advice on these two players is a clear don't do it.
Robbie Ray had elbow issues 4/'21 and in 2019 back issues. We have enough of these pitchers. Ray also holds a so-so career stat sheet of 62-58 in the won-lost/and only has three decent won/loss seasons in his eight year career. Plus, there could be a bidding war for him as well. Why?
While Stroman (to me) would have to be able to win a lot more games than he currently does. A 10/13 won loss mark in 2021 does nothing to make me want him back in 2022 and shouldn't for the Mets either. You simply cannot blame this stat on Noah's or Jake's injuries either, because they were not pitching in Marcus' losses. He was.
The other huge fact remains that Marcus could not pick up this team once both of these two pitchers mentioned above were lost to injury. The Mets needed him to be a top-end starter then, but he could not deliver.
Instead, I might explore FA or a trade for another team's top-end lefty starter using players here and not starting, like Jeff McNeil.
Quickly on Cano
PEDS are an easier and quicker way to get stronger and better athletically. Veteran players are often enticed into trying them to gain more of an edge against their younger counterparts. Understandable. But the truth is simply that there actually are "legal performance enhancers" on the consumer market, ones that do not violate any MLB policies. If you go and look them up online, you will see them.
Personally, I do not favor PEDS and would rather grunt it out in the weight room the old fashioned way. But for pro athletes who want or need more immediate results, I can perhaps understand them using legal performance enhancers.
Robbie Cano can still play ball, and I want him in the NYM batting order every single game possible only because I want the NYM to win a lot of games. He is still a good veteran ball player, and on a young team where guys like Mark Vientos, Ronnie Mauricio, Khalil Lee, Francisco Alvarez, and Jake Mangum are knocking on the door, Robbie isn't a bad idea at all!
"LGM. It's now or never."