A look back at Robinson Cano’s awful tenure with the Mets that’s now over

The Robinson Cano era with the New York Mets is now over.

As the team announced on Monday morning, with New York facing a roster crunch as teams go from 28 to 26 active players on the roster, the veteran second baseman has been designated for assignment.

That will end the tenure of the player the franchise traded for back in 2018, in a move that left a lot of fans scratching their heads at the time, although in hindsight, it has actually worked out for the Mets … except for the centerpiece in Cano.

So let’s look back on his tenure in New York:

Earlier that year, the Seattle Mariners slugger was suspended 80 games for a positive banned substance test. And with the franchise rebuilding, they sent Cano, closer Edwin Diaz and cash to the Mets for Jay Bruce, Gerson Bautista, Anthony Swarzak, Justin Dunn … and highly-touted prospect Jarred Kelenic.

Most Mets fans were shocked, even though Cano had batted .303 before he was suspended. Why would dealing for a past-his-prime Cano work out?

Luckily for them — for now — Kelenic hasn’t figured it all out in Seattle (although he’s only 22 years old) and Diaz has become his reliable self after an uneven first season with the Mets.

He batted .256 with 13 home runs and 39 RBI in 107 games. Not great, and that average was absolutely the worst of his career.

During the shortened season, he hit .316 with 10 dingers and 30 RBI in 49. That’s better, but …

An ugly starts — 12 games, .195, one homer and three RBI — led to him getting designated for assignment.