His legacy already on the ropes thanks to this week’s titanic disclosure, Robinson Cano got struck by a blunt instrument on Thursday.
The blunt instrument was the guy who stood to his left at Yankee Stadium.
Mark Teixeira, Cano’s Yankees teammate from 2009-13, viewed Cano’s exposure for illegal performance-enhancing drug usage as an inevitability. That’s what the former first baseman, now a commentator for ESPN, told Michael Kay on his ESPN Radio show.
“Robbie Cano’s assistant was on the list for Biogenesis,” Teixeira said. “Of course he had his assistant buy stuff for him. Alex Rodriguez got popped by Biogenesis and Melky [Cabrera] got popped. They’re his best friends. When someone gets lumped into that group, it’s because there’s evidence, there’s a paper trail, there’s a smoke trail.”
Sonia Cruz, who worked as a spokeswoman for Cano’s RC24 Foundation, was identified as a client of Biogenesis, the South Florida anti-aging clinic that supplied illegal PEDs to a number of major league players, including A-Rod and Cabrera, both of whom served suspensions. Major League Baseball cleared Cano of wrongdoing at the time. On Tuesday, baseball announced Cano’s suspension after the 35-year-old, now a Mariner, tested positive for the diuretic Furosemide — which he said was prescribed to him by a doctor in his native Dominican Republic — and couldn’t prove he took the medication for legal reasons.
“I really don’t want to get into too much detail. I love Robbie. But, yeah, I’m just not surprised,” Teixeira said. “I don’t really want to go too much further. But I think a lot of people are kind of saying the same thing.”
Not everyone. At a Manhattan event Thursday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of David Wells’ 1998 perfect game, Mariano Rivera said: “Something like that, it took me by surprise. Robinson, when he came up with the Yankees, I took him under my wing. I taught him everything and helped him. Sometimes we make mistakes. I’m not saying he did it on purpose. I’m just saying that sometimes we need to watch, because they watch everything. Even if the team doctor gives it to you, you still have to watch it.
“I will never, never say that he did it on purpose. Cano is a good boy.”
Said Jorge Posada, whose eponymous Jorge Posada Foundation benefited from Thursday night’s event: “I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know the details. It’s super sad. You’re talking about a Hall of Fame player. Robby for me, after Robby Alomar, is probably the best second baseman in baseball. It’s tough. It’s tough news.”