Monday, August 7, 2000
Updated: August 8, 3:22 PM ET
Yankees pick up Canseco in waiver deal
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Yankees manager Joe Torre and Jose Canseco are
in agreement: Neither knows what the slugger's role will be with
New York.
"I'm stunned," Torre said Monday after New York claimed
Canseco on waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "I don't get
surprised too often, but I was surprised. Hopefully, he will help
us win a game."
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| Canseco |
That wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.
Canseco, who has been an everyday player -- when healthy -- for
his entire career, also was a bit confused.
"I don't know how I'm going to fit in," he said. "I really
don't know what they want me to do. I don't know my role yet."
Torre will try to fit Canseco -- who has a feared bat to go with
his bad back -- into a crowded left field/DH slot that already
includes David Justice, Glenallen Hill, Luis Polonia and Ryan
Thompson.
One of those players, possibly Polonia, could be let go to make
room for Canseco when he arrives Tuesday. Canseco could also be
used off the bench, even though he has only six hits in 35 at-bats
as a pinch-hitter.
"My job is to manage the players who are in uniform," Torre
said. "I have no opinion of the move. I know what Jose is capable
of. There's no question that he's a threat, but this was a
surprise."
Torre's assessment of Canseco was in sharp contrast to his
reaction to New York's second Monday addition -- backup infielder
Luis Sojo, acquired from from Pittsburgh in a trade for minor
league pitcher Chris Spurling.
"He was one of our leaders the last few years," Torre said of
Sojo, who played four seasons with the Yankees. "I know he'll be
pleased coming back and the guys will be happy to see him."
It was unclear if the Yankees actually wanted Canseco or were
more interested in blocking Oakland from adding a needed
right-handed bat. Canseco was placed on waivers Thursday and
Yankees GM Brian Cashman put in a claim, one day before Oakland
acquired Mike Stanley.
The only other AL teams the Yankees could block were Chicago and
Seattle, which both have entrenched designated hitters. And NL
teams likely had no interest.
"We are very aggressive on the way we claim players," Cashman
said. "Essentially, we got a player for nothing."
The Yankees, who paid Tampa Bay a $20,000 waiver fee, will be
responsible for the remainder of Canseco's $3 million contract this
season, about $900,000. The Yankees hold a $4 million club option
for next season with a $500,000 buyout.
"I was happy in one sense and depressed in another sense,"
Canseco said. "I made a lot of great friends here in Tampa, and in
that sense I'm sad I'm leaving. I'm getting an opportunity to play
for a team in contention right now."
Canseco's addition pushes the Yankees' payroll to about $112.6
million pending a roster move when Canseco reports. Of the 34
players on the active roster or disabled list, 21 make more than $1
million.
"The Tampa Bay Devil Rays got the opportunity to give young
players at-bats and save $2 million," Devil Rays general manager
Chuck LaMar said. "To them, it may not be nothing. To us it's a
lot."
The Yankees, who inquired about Canseco before last week's trade
deadline, have been busy the past two months, acquiring Justice,
Denny Neagle, Jose Vizcaino, Hill and Polonia.
They were three games behind Toronto in the AL East when they
got Justice on June 29 from Cleveland. They are 22-13 since and
are 3½ games ahead of Boston in the AL East.
"In 1998 and 1999, the team told us that we didn't need to make
any moves," Cashman said. "This club told us that we needed to
shore up this area and that area. Other teams have closed the gap
and we needed to respond."
Canseco, 36, is hitting .257 with nine homers and 30 RBI in 61
games this season. He missed 46 games with a strained left heel.
Canseco is 24th on the career list with 440 homers and has long
been a favorite of owner George Steinbrenner, who Cashman said was
not consulted on the claim.
"We made the decision as an organization when we put Jose out
on waivers that if someone claimed him, there was tremendous chance
I would let him go," LaMar said. "It makes no difference if that
team is the New York Yankees. The decision had already been made
both baseball-wise and financially."
Canseco is 24th on the career list with 440 homers and has long
been a favorite of owner George Steinbrenner, who Cashman said was
not consulted on the claim.
"As an organization, we've always been enamored with this
player," Cashman said. "He's one of the game's biggest names. His
career has certainly been held back by injuries. Hopefully he has
more left in him and his bat can help us down the stretch."
While playing for Oakland, he was a unanimous winner of the 1988
American League MVP award, also becoming the first player to hit 40
homers and steal 40 bases.
His career dropped off as injuries took their toll. The Yankees
and Canseco are convinced health will not be an issue, although it
likely will prevent him from playing much in the field.
"The back is 100 percent," Canseco said. "The foot is healing
and is about 90 percent."
But the Yankees will use him for his bat, as they try for a
third straight World Series title. His career ratio of one every 15
at-bats is fifth among active players and ninth in major league
history.
"I know the Yankees have a great history," he said. "What
they've done the last four or five years has been incredible.
Everyone wants be associated with a winning club. I'm happy to be
considered by the Yankees as someone who can help them."
