Spring Training Roundup : A’s Canseco Holds Out for ‘What I’m Worth’

Jose Canseco, the American League’s Rookie of the Year in 1986, will not report to the Oakland A’s training camp in Scottsdale, Ariz., until he gets a satisfactory contract, he told the Miami News.

Canseco, who hit 33 home runs and had 117 runs batted in as the A’s left fielder and designated hitter, was due in camp Wednesday, but says he will hold out while agent Howard Ashlock negotiates.

“I think the A’s should pay me what I’m worth,” Canseco said. “I don’t want them to overpay me, but at the same time I want to be paid fairly.”

Since he does not have at least three years of major league service, Canseco can’t file for arbitration or free agency.

Following last season, Canseco hinted about getting a contract in the $300,000 range. Now he will not discuss how much he is asking nor how much Oakland is offering. He made the major league minimum of $60,000 last season.

Dale Murphy has assumed two new positions for the Atlanta Braves.

Murphy was named captain by Manager Chuck Tanner, and also began working out in right field.

“It’s an honor,” Murphy said of his captaincy. “I feel ultimately Chuck is the leader of all of us out there. But if I can help, I’ll do it.”

Murphy, who hit .265 with 29 home runs and 83 RBIs last season, is shifting from center field to right.

“I felt somebody with more speed would play center field eventually,” said Murphy, who will give way to Dion James.

Steve Carlton threw batting practice for 10 minutes and turned the clock back a couple of years.

The 42-year-old left-hander, in the camp of the Philadelphia Phillies for a tryout, showed some of the stuff that made him a four-time Cy Young Award winner.

As usual, Carlton isn’t talking, but teammates said he credits a tip by Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale for his return to form.

“I’m trying to downplay it, because I know it doesn’t mean anything until the games start,” said pitching coach Claude Osteen of the Phillies. “But I know it’s there. I see the difference between last year and this year. It’s there.”

Manager Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds hopes he isn’t needed when he becomes eligible to play again May 15.

Rose, who turns 46 on April 14, removed himself from the 40-man winter roster so the Reds could protect a younger player.

“Hopefully, when May 15 comes along, everybody pinch-hitting and everybody playing first base will be doing a good job, and we won’t need me,” Rose said.

First baseman Bill Buckner checked into the Boston Red Sox training camp at Winter Haven, Fla., with the old football-type shoes he wore in the World Series last fall and a new pair with a slightly lower cut.

“If I can get semi-healthy, to a point where I can go out there and get around, I’d like to think I still can hit .300 with 90 to 100 RBIs,” said Buckner, 37, who has ankle problems. “Right now, I’d say I need a 20% improvement in the ankle to be able to play.”

Buckner hit .267 with 18 homers, 39 doubles and 102 RBIs in 153 games last season.

It seems that the Milwaukee Brewers are determined not to put the same pressure on Greg Brock that he had with the Dodgers.

Brock, who replaced Steve Garvey at first base for the Dodgers, was traded to the Brewers during the winter for pitcher Tim Leary.

“Just come in and just swing. Do what you can do,” Brock said he has been told. “That’s a good way to set the tone and a good way to come into spring training.”

Brock, 29, batted .234 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs in 115 games with the Dodgers last season. In 496 games over five years with the Dodgers, Brock had a .233 average with 71 homers and 219 RBIs.