Eight-time All-Star Robinson Cano has been suspended for 80 games, effective immediately, for violating Major League Baseball's drug agreement, Z Deportes' Héctor Gómez and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal report. Cano, who won a World Series with the New York Yankees and now plays second base for the Seattle Mariners, said in a statement: "Recently I learned that I tested positive for a substance called furosemide, which is not a Performance Enhancing Substance. Furosemide is used to treat various medical conditions in the United States."
Cano said he was given the medication by a doctor, and that he is accepting the suspension "given that I do not dispute that I was given this substance."
Furosemide is a diuretic, which is banned by MLB due to the fact that it can be used to mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Jared Diamond, a baseball writer for The Wall Street Journal, tweeted: "Every player knows to talk to somebody with his team before taking any new medication, even if prescribed by a doctor. It's standard protocol. Robinson Cano has been in the majors since 2005. At absolute best, he's guilty of extreme negligence." T.J. Quinn, a writer for ESPN, added that Cano wouldn't have been suspended if MLB had not been able to prove he was using furosemide to mask a banned substance.
The report has many questioning Cano's once-likely Hall of Fame status. His suspension will end in mid-August, Rosenthal reports, and he will be ineligible for the postseason. Read his statement in full below. Jeva Lange