Spring Training / Angels : Joyner Still Unsigned, but Unlike A’s Canseco, He’s in Camp

Like Jose Canseco, his rival in the 1986 American League race for Rookie of the Year, Wally Joyner has not signed a contract for the 1987 baseball season. But unlike Canseco, Joyner is in training camp, having reported a day before the Angels were to hold their first full-squad workout.

“I’m down here to play ball,” Joyner said Thursday at the Angels’ spring training complex. “I didn’t think it would benefit me by staying away. My job is to put the uniform on and, hopefully, at the same time, my people and the Angels can negotiate a good contract.”

Several recent published reports on the East Coast had speculated that Joyner would join Oakland’s Canseco as a spring holdout, claiming he was miffed over the Angels’ reported initial offer of $90,000.

Both Joyner and his agent, Steve Freyer, denied the report.

“A holdout is an option, but we dealt with the idea for about five minutes,” Joyner said. “We agreed that beginning the season here was best for me. To hold out would be showing that we expect this to be a problem.

“I feel I should be compensated for having an above average year, an above good year. Hopefully, the Angels think the same way. I’m not asking for the world. I’m asking to be treated fairly. And so far, the Angels have been fair to me.”

Freyer called holdout reports “balderdash.”

“We never entertained the notion of holding out,” he said. “And the figure of $90,000 was way off. The Angels have not insulted us.”

Freyer would not reveal figures but it is believed that he and Joyner are seeking a one-year contract in the range of $250,000 to $300,000. Joyner earned $65,000 in 1986.

“Darryl Strawberry received $335,000 after his rookie season,” Freyer said. “We understand that times are different now, that the mood of management is to keep salaries down. Still, we want to reward Wally for an extraordinary season.”

In 1986, Joyner batted .290 with 22 home runs and 100 RBIs. He finished second in the league’s Rookie of the Year voting to Canseco and eighth in the balloting for American League Most Valuable Player.