Robinson Cano designated for assignment by  Mets

The Mets’ Robinson Cano era is all but over.

They designated Cano for assignment Monday morning, choosing to eat the more than $37 million they owe him through the end of next season instead of sending Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis or Luis Guillorme to the minors — the latest in a string of late-career embarrassments for a player who once appeared to be on a Hall of Fame track.

Rosters across the majors shrunk from 28, an extra allowance to help teams deal with a shortened spring training, to the usual 26 players on Monday, forcing the Mets to make the difficult decision of which position player to drop. They also sent reliever Yoan Lopez to Triple-A Syracuse.

Multibillionaire owner Steve Cohen was involved in and approved of the call on Cano, which the Mets made Sunday night after several days of internal discussion, general manager Billy Eppler said.

Manager Buck Showalter said Cano, 39 and a veteran of 17 major-league seasons, was “very professional” and “thankful” in his response.

“I wish all guys could approach it the way he did,” Showalter said. “But I think he also has a lot of confidence in his abilities and knows if not here, somewhere else. He looked at it very maturely.”

Former Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, now Cano’s agent again, told Newsday: “Robbie understands and respects the organization’s decision. To Billy’s credit, he has created a team that has depth and versatility, and Buck has done a great job managing the expanded roster to get everyone at-bats. If Robbie becomes a free agent, hopefully a win/win situation will be created for all parties.”

In his return to baseball after sitting out 2021, suspended for violating MLB’s PED policy a second time, Cano struggled in a dozen games this year. He was behind Jeff McNeil and Guillorme on the second-base depth chart and was in the DH mix alongside Smith, Davis and Pete Alonso — and hardly forcing his way into the lineup.

He hit .195 with a .233 OBP and .268 slugging percentage. In 43 plate appearances, he had 11 strikeouts and one extra-base hit, offering little reason to believe he would regain the form of an eight-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger with the Yankees and Mariners.

Officially, the Mets have a week to try to find a trade partner for Cano, who is making $24 million this season and will make $24 million next season (including the $3.75 million per year given by the Mariners to the Mets). Barring that improbability, he will be due to become a free agent and they will be on the hook for all of that money, save for the prorated major-league minimum paid by any club that signs him.

For Eppler, his history with Cano meant an extra layer of emotion. They have known each other for almost two decades, since Cano was a Yankees prospect and Eppler was an up-and-coming Yankees executive. Eppler called their conversation Sunday night “one of the more difficult ones” he has had with a player.

Showalter said Eppler offered to let Cano go to Syracuse to get at-bats.

“If there’s not [a playing opportunity to be had], then I will welcome him back here in a different capacity, too, if he wants that,” Eppler said. “That’s up to him.”

Showalter added: “I don’t think it’s over for Robbie. Robbie is going to continue to play. He’s going to get an opportunity. He’s going to probably contribute. I fully expect that. I think Billy does, too. But we gotta think about what is right for the Mets right now.”

Cano came to the Mets in Van Wagenen’s first big move as GM. They sent five players, including top prospect Jarred Kelenic, to the Mariners for Cano and Edwin Diaz in December 2018. At the time, Cano was to start the second half of the 10-year, $240 million deal he had signed with Seattle and had just come off his first PED suspension.

In his Mets debut season in 2019, he played poorly. He excelled in the pandemic-shortened 2020 but then got busted for steroids.

“Robbie’s body feels great and his confidence is high that he can adjust to a new role,” Van Wagenen said. “He definitely feels that he can be a productive contributor to a major-league team.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.