Hey everyone,

The bad news first:
Jose still doesn't have a team and still isn't playing.

Now the good news:
He's been getting increased attention from the media recently.
He's been given at least one minor league offer.
He clearly wants to play in the majors again.
He's willing to do whatever it takes to prove he's healthy and ready to go.
He needs 54 homers to get to 500, and I'm telling you right now, he's going
to do it.

Personally, I think we're making progress here. I think even the media is
starting to question why Jose Canseco is sitting at home when there are a
number of teams that clearly could use him. It just doesn't make sense.

All the latest news - both good and bad - is below. I think you'll find
tonight's article ("Canseco eager to prove he's still got it") especially
encouraging.

I'm going skiing in Tahoe this weekend, so I probably won't be online for
the next few days.... but I'll send out the latest news (if there is any)
early next week.

-Mark

==========
From the Baltimore Sun:
'Thanks, but no thanks' on Canseco is good sign
On Baseball -- Peter Schmuck (appropriate last name in my opinion)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Jose Canseco was tempting. The redeveloping
Orioles could use a little more personality, so the bigger-than-life
slugger might have put some meat in those empty green seats in the upper deck.

Still, the decision to pass on Canseco is the latest indication that the
team finally knows in which direction it's going. The club's increased
emphasis on player development cannot coexist with the rent-a-player
mentality that signing Canseco would have represented.

Even if he were to get healthy in a hurry and contribute 30 home runs to
the Orioles' attack, the long-term result would be just another missed
opportunity to develop younger talent.

If Canseco held to recent form, the Orioles would have been saddled with
another chronically injured player and more dead payroll, though he
wouldn't have cost very much at this desperate stage in his career.

It's too bad, really. Canseco's physical problems -- he has played just one
full season since 1993 -- prevented him from being a truly Ruthian player.
If he could have stayed healthy, he might be pushing 600 home runs now
instead of hanging on for a long-shot chance at 500.

Who knows, he still might get there. He still might be able to be the
missing piece in some team's offensive lineup. He just didn't fit into the
long-range plans of a team that needs to continue building from the bottom
up for at least the next couple of years.

==========
From the AP:
Itching to Hit
Canseco rejected SkyChiefs, Ash says

No way, Jose.

That's what Toronto Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash said about the
possibility that Jose Canseco will sign a minor-league contract with
Toronto and play for the Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs.

"He called us looking for an opportunity, and the best we could offer him
was Triple-A," Ash said Tuesday night. "He rejected that seven days ago."

When asked if there was any way Canseco could still end up in Syracuse, Ash
said, "No chance."

But Canseco's agent, Jeff Borris, told the Los Angeles Times that Canseco
was still mulling a minor-league offer from Toronto, and he could make a
decision as soon as today. Borris said Toronto's offer included a 30-day
"out" clause, meaning Canseco could leave Syracuse if he wasn't promoted to
Toronto within 30 days.

Borris could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Canseco, 36, is a six-time American League All-Star who won the 1988
American League Most Valuable Player Award and ranks 23rd on the all-time
home run list with 446. He signed with the Anaheim Angels after splitting
the 2000 season with Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees, but he was
released by Anaheim March 28.

Jim Hoff, the Blue Jays' field coordinator who oversees the minor leagues,
said he heard the Canseco rumors about a week ago, but they had since died
down.

"I'd be as surprised as you if we signed him," Hoff said.

In Miami, Canseco turns on the TV set, flipping between games and rooting
for the Rocket, A-Rod and his other friends.

He is watching from his home, rather than from a ballpark.

"It's utterly ridiculous," Canseco said by phone Tuesday. "I am completely
healthy and ready to play, and I'm willing to take any test to prove it."

Canseco has a goal - to let the baseball world know his body is fit and able.

"There's a shadow over me, a doubt about whether I'm OK," Canseco said.
"There's a perception that I'm damaged goods, an undercurrent that I'm
hurt, and I need to dispel it."

"I'm willing to let anyone come here to Miami to work me out, give me an
MRI or a lie detector or any test there is," he said. "There's a lot of
baseball left in me."

Canseco hit 15 home runs with 49 RBIs in a combined 329 at-bats for Tampa
Bay and the New York Yankees last season.

He batted .252 in 98 games, his playing time limited once he joined the
eventual World Series champions in early August.

The slugger was an All-Star most recently in 1999 with the Devil Rays.

Canseco was batting .231 without a home run in 39 at-bats in spring
training when Anaheim dropped him and got Glenallen Hill in a trade with
the Yankees.

Canseco said Anaheim general manager Bill Stoneman told him he was released
because he had not homered.

Canseco said manager Mike Scioscia told him he had doubts whether the
slugger could stay healthy for a whole season.

At the time, Scioscia said he had concerns about Canseco's "long-term health."

Scioscia also said, "The bottom line is he's healthy now. There was no
misinterpretation and no misunderstanding. I told Jose, 'If people ask me,
I'll tell them your back is healthy, your hamstring is healthy.' "

Canseco did not play in 10 exhibition games because of lower back and
hamstring injuries, and missed another game because of a twinge in his neck.

"Of those 10, I could have played in six. They kept telling me to take
another day to get ready," he said. "I didn't realize it was an audition. I
thought I was part of the team and was preparing for the opener."

==========
Interesting tidbit:

...Jose Canseco is gone but not forgotten. A shipment of his bats was sent
to Anaheim, and several Angels players gave them a few test
swings in the clubhouse....

==========
From the Washington Post:
'No' to Canseco

...Hargrove said the team's early-season hitting slump has not weakened the
team's emphasis on youth or changed their lack of interest in free agent
slugger Jose Canseco, who remains unsigned.

"We still want to go with the kids. That's always been our plan," Hargrove
said. Signing Canseco "may do us some good in the short term, but to reach
the place where we want to be ultimately, it doesn't do anything to further
that. We don't want to bring in a player who's going to block one of our
young kids. It didn't make sense then and it doesn't make sense now."

==========
from USA Today......

WHERE'S JOSE?: Jose Canseco is sitting in Miami these days watching
baseball on the TV and wondering what's wrong with this picture. The man
with 446 career home runs and 1358 RBI — as well as seven trips to the
disabled list in the past six seasons — still can't believe he's not in
the game anymore. He thought he would be in an Anaheim Angels uniform right
now, batting in a lineup with Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon, Darin Erstad and
Garrett Anderson, but near the end of spring training, Canseco, 36, was let
go when Glenallen Hill came aboard from the Yankees. And not one other team
extended an invitation, despite the potential of Canseco putting people in
the seats as he chases down his 500th home run. The lighter Canseco — he
lost 20 pounds in the offseason — says he's completely healthy and ready
to play. "I'm willing to take any test to prove it," Canseco said. He has
an offer from the Toronto Blue Jays to sign with Triple-A Syracuse. He hit
46 homers with 107 RBI and 29 stolen bases for the Jays in 1998, but they
now have a productive DH in Brad Fullmer. Canseco said there are some other
offers for minor league assignments. But his bruised ego won't allow him to
take just any offer. He'll wait and see — and continue to watch TV.

==========
From the Sporting News:
Canseco eager to prove he's still got it
April 11, 2001
By Ken Rosenthal

Jose Canseco says the Angels created a perception that he was injured when
they released him on March 28.

Angels general manager Bill Stoneman says the team traded for Glenallen
Hill out of concern that Canseco would not produce.

Canseco might have taken for granted that he had only signed a minor-league
contract, believing his place on the team was assured.

Stoneman and Angels manager Mike Scioscia might have judged him too
harshly, believing he was headed for another injury-marred season.

Whatever, a slugger with 446 career home runs remains unemployed, and the
major-league season now is more than a week old.

Canseco, 36, is working out at the University of Miami, and planning a
formal session this week for any teams willing to attend or dial into an
uplink.

Slowly, he is coming to the realization that he likely will need to return
to Class AAA for the first time since 1985 if he intends to revive his
major-league career.

"If I'm going to be forced to, if it's the only to get back to the
major-league level, for people to see I'm healthy, I'm going to have to do
it," Canseco said.

"It'll be tough. But I'm completely healthy. I can prove it. If I do take
one of the Triple A jobs, people will see instantly."

Canseco has a Class AAA offer from the Blue Jays that would allow him to
request his release if he was not promoted to the majors within 30 days,
according to his agent, Jeff Borris.

The Devil Rays and other clubs also have shown interest, Borris said. In
the meantime, Canseco is making himself available to the media, trying to
dispel any notion that he is injured.

His problem is that he has made 11 trips to the disabled list, seven in the
past six seasons. He also missed 11 games in spring training with injuries,
though he said that was mostly the Angels' choice, not his own.

Then there is the matter of perception: Some in baseball believe that he is
a wasted talent, a player who demonstrated Hall of Fame ability, but not
the dedication to remain healthy and productive.

"I don't take care of myself?" the 6-4, 240-pound Canseco asked, repeating
a question. "I don't think anyone in the game can say that. You don't look
the way you look, have the strength you have, if you don't take care of
yourself. That statement makes no sense.

"Not taking care of myself? That would mean I was not eating right, doing
drugs, drinking alcohol, partying all the time. Basically, I would look
like a slouch. My appearance does not look like that. That statement is
completely ridiculous."

Then again, it might be even more ridiculous that a player who hit 34
homers and drove in 95 runs for the Devil Rays only two years ago can not
find a single American League team willing to employ him as a designated
hitter.

Canseco said the confusion over his health might be a carryover from last
season, when the Yankees claimed him on waivers Aug. 7. He batted only 111
times the rest of the regular season and once in the postseason. People
asked him if he was hurt, Canseco said.

The truth was that the Yankees GM Brian Cashman claimed Canseco only to
keep him away from other clubs. The Yankees had no real need for a
righthanded slugger, but Canseco accepted his role with grace, Cashman said.

"Instead of complaining, being selfish about his own situation, how this
was adversely affecting him, he jumped on board with the team concept,"
Cashman said. "He was about as classy and above board as you ever could ask
a person to be given the situation."

What, then, is the problem?

At the start of spring training, Canseco said that he would produce an
"automatic" 40 or 50 home runs if healthy. He is willing to accept a
minimal salary with incentives beginning at 200 plate appearances, Borris said.

And still, no team will bite.

"I know Jose has said some things, that we've spread some information that
is damaging to him. I think he knows better than that," Stoneman said. "We
don't do that sort of thing. Nobody does. There's no point to doing that."

Stoneman said his problem was not with Canseco's effort, but with his
performance. Canseco batted .231 in spring training, with no home runs, no
walks and nine strikeouts in 13 games.

Canseco said that Stoneman told him "straight out" that the Angels released
him because he failed to hit a homer in 39 at-bats, while Sciosicia
expressed concern that he would not be healthy enough to play in 130 games.

Back, hamstring and neck ailments limited Canseco in spring training.
Canseco said that he could have played in all but one or two of the 11
games he missed, but that the Angels told him to take his time and heal.

"They made it seem," he said, "like I had the team made."

His failure to hit a home run?

"No one can understand why I got released because of that," Canseco said.
"Many times during an actual season when I hit 40-plus home runs, I've gone
100 plate appearances without hitting a home run."

But the Angels wanted to see more.

"I know Mike Scioscia explained it to him. I know (batting coach) Mickey
Hatcher did," Stoneman said. "We pointed that out to him. Shoot, if you're
going to sign a player to make the major-league team, you usually sign him
to a major-league contract."

Canseco would have earned a $200,000 base salary with the Angels, plus
incentives that would have paid an additional $4.95 million if he made 600
plate appearances -- "absolutely ideal" terms for the club, Stoneman said.

For Stoneman, the decision came down to Canseco vs. Hill. And his
dissatisfaction with Canseco led him to acquire Hill for Class AA
outfielder Darren Blakely.

Hill, 36, is nearly a year younger than Canseco. He hit a combined 27
homers for the Cubs and Yankees last season. But he was 3-for-22 with eight
strikeouts and no walks before going 2-for-4 with his first home run Tuesday.

"Anybody who makes these decisions is not right 100 percent of the time,"
Stoneman siad. "But looking back, if I were to make the decision again,
that's the decision I'd make right now."

Canseco is certain it was the wrong decision.

He is waiting in Miami, waiting for a chance, waiting to prove that he is
healthy, once and for all.

Senior writer Ken Rosenthal covers baseball for The Sporting News. E-mail
him at krosenthal@....

==========
From Ken's Mailbag at the Sporting News:
(Note: Jason Uhl is a subscriber to this list - way to go Jason!)
Plan for Canseco; Possible draft changes; Memories of Stargell
April 10, 2001
By Ken Rosenthal

Ken,

I was wondering if you had any news relating to Jose Canseco and what he
might do next. There was talk that his agent, Jeff Borris, was talking to
several teams in the bigs, and that Canseco might even play in Japan
possibly to show that his body is sound.

Jason E. Uhl

***Jason: I spoke with Borris on Monday night, and he said that right now,
Canseco's only possibilities are at Class AAA. The Blue Jays, a team that
certainly doesn't appear to need offensive help, told Canseco he could join
their Class AAA club in Syracuse and then request his release after a month
if he was not promoted to the majors. Canseco is reluctant to accept such a
deal, but if he proved he was healthy, then perhaps another American League
club would want him as its DH.

Borris said that the Devil Rays also have expressed interest in a
minor-league deal, remembering that Canseco hit 34 homers for them in 1999.
The Orioles would seem to have an obvious need for Canseco -- they're
batting .165 through six games -- but Borris said he received mixed signals
from the club.

"I thought with Albert (Belle) going down, Jose would be a natural for
Baltimore," Borris said. "The first phone call I made was to (Orioles
owner) Peter Angelos. He agreed it was a good idea, and said he would like
to sign Jose. He told me he would contact his GM, Syd Thrift, later in the day.

"Syd called me later on, said they had considered the matter, and that they
didn't need Jose. Obviously, something fell through the cracks in the line
of communication."

Agents and club officials frequently make such complaints about the
Orioles, but club officials probably don't want to expose their so-called
youth movement to further ridicule by signing a 36-year-old DH.