Sitting on 462

Expos release Canseco after unimpressive spring

Have bat, will travel: Canseco has played for the A's, Rangers, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Yankees and White Sox. AP

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- Jose Canseco will not reach his goal of 500 home runs with the Montreal Expos.

Canseco was given his release by the Expos on Wednesday after being told he would not be an everyday player.

Canseco, 37, hit .200 with three home runs and five RBIs in 14 spring training games.

The former AL MVP has 462 home runs, putting him 22nd on the career list. But Expos manager Frank Robinson plans to use other young players in the outfield.

"We had sat down together last week -- Jose and I -- and he had shared with me his feelings about what he felt like he could do for this ballclub, and under what conditions he could do that," Robinson said.

"I told Jose today that he would not be an everyday player here. And he had indicated that he didn't think he could be as productive for us," he said.

Robinson said the Expos offered to let him play as a regular at Class AAA, but Canseco declined.

"He took it very well, and he took it like a real pro. He understood and certainly made it a little easier for me," Robinson said.

"When you're dealing with the veteran players, it may be the end of their careers, you never know, when they don't make it," he said.

Canseco signed a minor league contract with Montreal last month, and new Expos general manager Omar Minaya hoped he'd found a power hitter for the middle of the lineup.

At the time, Canseco said he felt healthy enough to play a full season in the outfield. An AL player his entire career, he has been in the field only 13 times in the last three years.

As a DH last year, he hit .258 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs in 256 at-bats for the Chicago White Sox.

Canseco was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1986 with Oakland. He also has played for Texas, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees.

Canseco is a six-time All-Star. He won the MVP award in 1988, the year he became the first player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season.

 

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