Robinson Cano's positive test for a banned substance and subsequent 80-game suspension announced this week came as no surprise to one of his former New York Yankees teammates.
Mark Teixeira overlapped with Cano for five seasons in New York. During a guest appearance on the Michael Kay Show on 98.7 ESPN New York on Thursday, the former first baseman was asked if he ever suspected Cano of using performance-enhancing substances.
"Yeah, I don't really want to get into too much detail. I love Robbie. I'm just not surprised," said Teixeira, a baseball analyst for ESPN since retiring after the 2016 season. "I don't really want to go too much further, but I think a lot of people are kind of saying the same thing."
Teixeira did not offer any specifics or examples to support his assertion.
Major League Baseball announced Cano's suspension Tuesday, saying he tested positive for the diuretic furosemide, which violates the league's drug prevention and treatment program. The Seattle Mariners second baseman accepted the suspension. Under the sport's drug policy, a player is not automatically suspended for use of a diuretic unless MLB can prove he intended to use it as a masking agent.
Cano was the Yankees' second baseman while Teixeira was at first from 2009 through 2013. When Cano became a free agent after the 2013 season, he signed a 10-year contract with the Mariners for $240 million. The Yankees did not come close to matching Seattle's offer.
Teixeira said he considered Cano's associations in his New York days when formulating his suspicions about him.
"Let's just use this situation here. Robbie Cano's assistant was on the list for Biogenesis," Teixeira said, referring to the clinic at the center of MLB's 2013 PED scandal. "Now, of course, [he] had an assistant, you know, buy stuff for him. Alex Rodriguez got popped by Biogenesis, and [former Yankees outfielder] Melky [Cabrera] got popped. They were 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."