Hey everyone,

I've been getting numerous emails every day asking where Jose's going to be
playing, so I figured it was time for me to send out an update. So,
without further adieu, here is the answer you've all been waiting for......
I don't know. There have been a few rumors, but to the best of my
knowledge, nothing is solid yet. I've heard Boston, Detroit, Minnesota,
and Cleveland all mentioned, but like I said, nothing is solid yet. I
promise I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything solid.

It's almost time for the 2001 Big League Challenge, and Jose will be there
to defend his title. Those of you that were there with me last year got to
witness what I consider some of the finest Jose moments I've ever
seen. Jose beat Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, Chipper Jones, and Rafael
Palmeiro en route to winning the home run derby. He hit 28 homers in the
final round (including 8 in one "inning") - I guarantee that number will
not be surpassed by anyone this year. He really crushed some balls,
including one that went a good 600 feet (no kidding) before it finally
stopped. That ball went OVER the stadium lights down the left field line
and ended up crossing the highway that runs well behind the
stadium. During the inning Jose crushed 8 balls, the crowd gave Jose a
standing ovation and chanted "Jo-se, Jo-se." It was a moment I know I will
never forget.

I am not going to be buying 80some tickets for the event like I did last
year and selling them to you guys, but I am planning on going. If you'd
like to go too, you can contact the Las Vegas Stars for tickets at: (702)
730-1226. I believe they are making people buy packages (Stars tickets
plus derby tickets), and won't be selling individual tickets until a week
before the event. Don't quote me on this, but this is what I've
heard. Anyway, if you do get tickets, let me know. I'd love to meet up
with some of you there - I can always use help holding up my bullseye, you
know!

Below you'll find all the Jose's rumors from the past couple of months,
plus a couple of other goodies, like Jose's top 5 car list. I'll keep you
posted when I hear anything else.

-Mark

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From ESPN.com:

Yankees slugger Jose Canseco, known for his penchant for fast cars, lists
his favorite autos:

5] TWIN TURBO CORVETTE
It has a silver interior with a black exterior.

4] JAGUAR
This $600,000 sports car has beautiful lines. It will go 240 mph with 640
horsepower.

3] BENTLEY AZURE
A classy car with great handling.

2] LAMBORGHINI DIABLO
It's all about looks.

1] F50
It's all about speed.

==========
From the Star Tribune:
November 11, 2000
Canseco's agent says Twins would be a good fit for his client
La Velle E. Neal III

The Twins are looking for power and run production this offseason, and one
agent believes he has a player who can fill those needs.

That player is Jose Canseco, who has hit 446 home runs in his career and is
looking for a place to prove his bat still is lethal.

Jeff Borris, who represents Canseco, plans to contact the Twins to see if
they are interested.

"I really think that it would be a good fit," Borris said.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan acknowledged Canseco could provide power,
drive in runs and bat in the middle of the Twins' lineup, but he wasn't as
enthusiastic as Borris.

"Mr. Canseco certainly has a reputation for doing all those things," Ryan
said, "but he also has a history for having injuries, and I'm not sure that
is something we would be interested in."

Canseco, 36, batted .252 with 15 homers and 49 RBI in 329 at-bats during
stints with Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees this past season. Those
numbers could signal declining skills in someone who used to be one of the
most feared offensive players in the game. In 1998, Canseco hit 46 homers
and drove in 107 runs for Toronto. In 1999, during a season interrupted by
surgery to repair a ruptured disk, Canseco dipped to 34 homers and 95 RBI
for Tampa Bay. However, he had 31 homers by the All-Star break and was
selected as the American League's starting designated hitter before having
surgery two days before the All-Star Game.

New York claimed Canseco off waivers from the Devil Rays this season, and
he ended up as a rarely-used spare part on the Yankees' World Series
championship team. Canseco, however, said he still was posting 4.4-second
times in the 40-yard dash and still could be productive.

Today is the first day teams can sign free agents, but Ryan said he didn't
expect to be active right away. Canseco indicated he would be willing to
listen to Borris' pitch. Canseco likely would have to agree to a deal with
a low base salary and many incentives.

==========
Ft.Worth Star Telegram:
December 3, 2000

...The Minnesota Twins are looking for right-handed power, and Jose Canseco
hasn't been ruled out. The Twins were interested in Todd Hundley, but he's
too expensive....

==========
From USA Today:
December 12, 2000

...Canseco future: Jose Canseco's future will be determined after that of
outfielder Manny Ramirez, who has agreed to sign today with Boston. Canseco
might wind up in Cleveland, Ramirez's former team. Canseco also could end
up in Detroit. . . .

==========
MLB News and Notes:Minnesota Twins (updated Dec. 10)

Top Targets: Sandy Alomar, Ben Grieve, Jose Cruz Jr., Jose Canseco

Hot Scoops: The Twins will try to use the winter meetings to sign a
catcher, preferably Sandy Alomar Jr. ... Jose Canseco is interested in
playing for the Twins. But are they interested in him? ...

Boston Red Sox (updated Dec. 13)

Top Targets: Kenjiro Kawasaki, Dustin Hermanson, Brett Tomko, Jose Canseco,
Pedro Astacio, Jamie Moyer, Ron Villone, Albie Lopez

Hot Scoops: Manny Ramirez reached an agreement with the Boston Red Sox on
an eight-year, $160 million contract. ... With Ramirez in the fold,
unloading another outfielder is proving a challenge. No one seems to want
Troy O'Leary, so Trot Nixon could be out. If they deal an OF, Jose Canseco
might actually be brought back for depth. ...

==========
From the Boston Globe:

"Boston's brief flirtation with bringing back Jose Canseco to Fenway died
with the signing of Ramirez."

==========
From ESPN.com (only one mention of Jose, but a good article):
The strange events of 2000
By Jayson Stark

Truth might be stranger than fiction. But baseball can be stranger than
either of them. And here's all the proof you need -- in the 2000 edition of
the Strange but True Feats of the Year.

On Sept. 7, the great Jose Canseco actually swung at a pitch that hit him.

Charlie Manuel opened his big-league managing career in Cleveland by
getting ejected in two of his first three games.

Rickey Henderson had no extra-base hits in a month and a half with the
Mets, then homered in his first at-bat with the Mariners.

The Marlins' Jesus Sanchez saw the world from one end to the other during
the 2000 season.

It wasn't quite Chan Ho Park and Fernando Tatis, but Devil Rays starter
Ryan Rupe gave up two grand slams last season -- to the same hitter
(Jermaine Dye), five months apart (April 26 and Sept. 1).

The Yankees set the most impossible record of the year twice. They hit
three sacrifice flies in an inning in two different games. Detroit's Bobby
Higginson made the first one possible by dropping a fly ball June 29.
Anaheim's Ron Gant guided them through the second one by dropping one fly
ball on Aug. 19, then catching another one but forgetting the outs, to let
Jorge Posada score from second.

The Twins and Royals each hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the same game
April 9. Neither of them hit back-to-back-to-back homers in any game in the
'90s.

In that same game, the Royals started their day against Eric Milton by
having none of their first 20 hitters reach base. They followed that act by
having their next nine hitters reach base.

In a Sept. 13 game against the White Sox, Juan Gonzalez made the third out
of the first, second and third innings.

Kevin Elster hit three home runs in the very first game ever played at Pac
Bell Park. After that, he didn't hit three homers in any month all season.

Jeff Cirillo had an even more amazing quiniella: He managed to have a
three-homer game (June 28) and a 217-at-bat homer drought in the same season.

Hideo Nomo allowed a home run April 19 after he was out of the game. It
ain't easy, but to pull it off, Nomo had to allow a shot off a left-field
railing by Mike Stanley that was first ruled a single. Nomo was then yanked
by manager Phil Garner. So he was literally sitting in the dugout when the
umpires conferred -- and changed the call to a home run.

In a May 6 game in Texas, the Rangers blew a five-run lead and the A's blew
an eight-run lead in the same game.

With some slight assistance from a pulled groin, Texas infielder Frank
Catalanotto went 29 straight days (between April 19 and May 18) without
making an out. He got hits in five straight at-bats, then went on the
disabled list, then came back and had a 5-for-5 game.

But he couldn't top backup Astros catcher Tony Eusebio, who had one of the
most innovative hitting streaks of all time. It lasted 51 days (just 12
days shorter than Joe DiMaggio's) -- but only 24 games. So Eusebio had more
days in which he extended the streak by not playing than he did by playing.

In a May 2 Mets-Giants game, the first batter of the day (Jon Nunnally) and
the last batter of the day (Jeff Kent) hit home runs.

The vagabond-starter-of-the-year award goes to Florida's Jesus Sanchez. In
August and September, he made successive road starts in the Mountain
(Colorado), Pacific (Arizona), Central (Houston) and Eastern (Atlanta) time
zones, then made his next start in -- where else? -- Canada (Montreal).

On May 29, in their first meeting since their humongous nine-player trade
the previous winter, the Tigers and Rangers miraculously got through a
whole game without using any of the nine players in that trade.

The White Sox hit five home runs in one game June 10 and lost. Then they
gave up five home runs the next day and won.

The Braves turned an Aug. 6 ground-ball double play in which both outs were
at first base. (Ground ball to first for one out. Late throw to the plate.
Rundown between first and second.)

The Marlins somehow lost a May 18 game against San Diego in which they
stole 10 bases.

The Cubs and Expos played a 1-0 game June 17 in which the only run was
driven in by a pitcher who didn't get the win (Ismael Valdes).

In a July 23 game in Houston, both Benes brothers -- Andy and Alan -- gave
up a home run to the same hitter (Lance Berkman).

Thanks to spectacularly creative baserunning, the Cubs started an inning
Aug. 2 by having their first five hitters reach base -- and wound up with
more outs (two) than runs (one).

It took Tigers reliever Danny Patterson only two pitches to strike out
Oakland's Ramon Hernandez on Aug. 19 -- thanks to manager Phil Garner, who
cooperatively yanked C.J. Nitkowski after Hernandez ran an 0-2 count trying
to bunt. Patterson then threw ball one, strike three.

The Yankees outhomered the Red Sox in their head-to-head games at Fenway
Park, 14-0.

In their incredible Sept. 15 game in which they used 42 players, the Tigers
and Red Sox used 17 different players in the top of the eighth inning, then
ripped through five more players before a pitch was thrown in the bottom of
the eighth.

And finally, it's our Top Five Strange but True Feats of the Year:

5) In Randy Johnson's bizarre May 21 start in New York, 10 straight outs
were strikeouts -- and eight straight hits were extra-base hits.

4) In back-to-back starts, May 21 and 27, Giants starter Russ Ortiz won a
game in which he gave up 10 runs (in 6 2/3 innings), then failed to win a
game in which he gave up one hit (in six innings).

3) In a span of four days (Aug. 5-8), A's closer Jason Isringhausen blew
one save without throwing a pitch (balk). Then he came into a game in New
York, blew a save on his first pitch (Bernie Williams homer) and turned
that tie into a loss on his next pitch (David Justice homer). So that's two
blown saves on one pitch, a loss on the next pitch, if you're scoring.

2) In the Sept. 6 game in which he became the fourth player in history to
play all nine positions in one game, Texas' Scott Sheldon had no balls hit
to him at any of those positions. (His only chance: at catcher, where he at
least caught a strikeout).

1) And in a Sept. 20 game against San Diego, Rockies catcher Ben Petrick
performed the Strange But True Feat of the Year 2000, by driving in four
runs -- with zero hits. (Two RBI ground balls, one sacrifice fly and a
bases-loaded walk were all it took.)