On Tuesday, the MLB world was stunned when news broke that Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano had been suspended 80 games. He was suspended for violating baseball’s joint drug agreement, and while it was initially reported that he had tested positive for a PED, he says that’s not the case.
As he detailed in a lengthy statement, Cano tested positive for a substance called Furosemide, which is not a PED. He says he was issued the drug “by a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic to treat a medical ailment.”
Cano also went on to state, “While I did not realize at the time that I was given a medication that was banned, I obviously now wish that I had been more careful.”
“For more than fifteen years, playing professional baseball has been the greatest honor and privilege of my life,” Cano’s statement read. ” I would never do anything to cheat the rules of the game that I love, and after undergoing dozens of drug tests over more than a decade, I have never tested positive for a Performance Enhancing Substance for the simple reason that I have never taken one.”
Cano also said he was accepting MLB’s suspension, calling it “the most difficult decision I have ever made in my life, but ultimately the right decision given that I do not dispute that I was given this substance.”
He apologized to his family, friends, teammates and the Mariners organization and expressed gratitude for the support he’s received through this process.