Canó offers apology to Mets organization, teammates and fans: 'There's no excuses'

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Speaking for the first time since receiving a full-season suspension for a second positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, second baseman Robinson Canó on Wednesday offered an apology but did not provide an explanation for his positive tests.

“That’s why I’m here as a man, to give you guys an apology,” Canó said. “It was tough for me this past year. Being at home, things are going through your head. It’s something that you don’t want to share. You keep it to yourself. But it wasn’t good.

“For me, I love this game. I grew up in a family that played this game. And to not be able to play the game, it was really tough.”

Canó was asked why he tested positive for Stanozolol but did not directly answer the question, saying only that “there’s no excuses.” He apologized to “the Mets organization, to my teammates, the fans, and you guys.”

The comments came 16 months after Canó received a season-long suspension for a second positive PED test, following his first in 2018. He forfeited his entire $24 million salary for the 2021 season but remains under team control for two more years at $48 million total. The Mets owe him $40.5 million of that money, with the Mariners picking up the rest.

Upon arriving at camp last weekend, Canó held a clubhouse meeting in which he apologized to his teammates.

“I’m just happy to be back,” he said, rephrasing a comment that he repeated several times throughout the news conference. “I’m happy that we’ve got a new manager, new GM, new coaches. To be able to be back here on the team and to help this team compete for a championship, I’m really happy to be back and to be able to play the game that I love.”

Now 39 and entering his 17th big league season, Canó has an uncertain role on the roster. Manager Buck Showalter has committed publicly to Jeff McNeil as his everyday second baseman, noting that Canó will play there only on occasion. First base is an option for Canó, but not a realistic one for as long as Pete Alonso is healthy. So the bulk of Canó’s reps will have to come at designated hitter, where he will vie for playing time alongside (primarily) J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith.

When he last played, in 2020, Canó batted .316/.352/.544 with 10 home runs in 49 games, but he struggled to stay healthy the previous year, with a near-constant string of leg muscle strains.

But if anyone can bounce back from a lost season, Showalter said, it is Canó, who would be on a Hall of Fame career track if not for his suspensions.

“He’s got that look in his eye,” Showalter said. “I’ve learned through the years, don’t sell guys like him short. He’s got a pretty good pedigree.”

To that end, Canó said, he trained all offseason -- “Monday through Friday” -- to prove that he can be a productive player without the aid of PEDs. The Mets, given their financial commitment to him, intend to find out whether that’s true.

“I don’t want to live in the past,” Canó said. “I can control from now on, and just kind of focus on winning championships. Because that’s the goal. The organization, and I know the Mets fans, they just can’t wait for a championship.”