When a former player on any team is suspended for PED’s, former teammates will be asked their thoughts and that is exactly what happened to the New York Yankees.
The news of former New York Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano’s suspension for PED’s is still fresh in the mind of those in the baseball world.
For the Yankees, three players on the current roster were teammates and good friends with Cano. The likes of Brett Gardner, C.C. Sabathia, and Dellin Betances all played with Cano when he was on the Yankees. They spoke to NJ.com’s Brendan Kuty about the suspension.
Gardner told Kuty that it’s “just really sad to see.” He and Cano were teammates for six seasons in the Bronx. During those six years, the Yankees saw plenty of success winning a championship in 2009.
“Unfortunate to hear that kind of news about anybody, especially somebody you played with. Haven’t really read his statement or seen what, to be honest, the details on it. I don’t really want to comment any further. Just disappointing.” Gardner said.
One thing that Gardner emphasized that all of this was “sad to see” and “disappointing.” But, Gardner made sure to tell Kuty that this will not affect the way he will remember Cano as a teammate.
C.C. Sabathia went through a former superstar teammate getting suspended when Ryan Braun was suspended for PED use in 2013. Sabathia told Kuty that it was “surprising. I know Robbie. But after the Ryan Braun thing, nothing surprises me anymore.”
C.C. joined the Yankees in 2009 when Cano was just starting to put it all together as a ballplayer. They would be the face of the Yankees up until Cano left for Seattle where he has been since the start of the 2014 season.
Yankees’ reliever Dellin Betances only played with the Yankees in eight games while Cano still donned the Pinstripes. But, that did not prevent him from forming a special relationship with the 35-year-old infielder.
Betances told Kuty, “he’s a close friend of mine. To see that it’s like — I really couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it, to be honest with you.”
“When I first signed, he was one of the first guys to kind of — I think he was hurt at the time in 2006. He would take me out to eat every day as a rookie and he was the first guy I kind of got to hang out with in the majors leagues and I was just in rookie ball.”
The Yankees play the Mariners when Seattle comes to the Bronx for a three-game series from June 19-21. Obviously, Cano will be in the lineup then, but it will still feel weird not seeing him manning second base.
