Jon Heyman reports that Robinson Cano has been working out at first and third base in the Dominican Republic.
Cano is eligible to be activated from his PED suspension on August 14, and at the moment what role he’ll play with the Mariners is up in the air. Dee Gordon moved in from the outfield to cover second base when Cano went down and just the other day the Mariners shored up their center field situation with Cameron Maybin, which means that any chance of Gordon moving and Cano taking over his old position is remote. Which makes sense, of course, given that the Mariners will only have Cano for about a month and a half given that he is not eligible for the playoffs. Assuming, of course, the Mariners make the playoffs.
When Cano was suspended he was batting .287/.385/.441 in 39 games. If he’s still productive after the half season layoff, he could be useful as a utility guy. If not, well, it’s not like the M’s really missed him when he was gone.
