Canseco to Stay With Rangers

Jose Canseco will return to the Texas Rangers next season because he decided not to exercise an option to demand a trade. Because Canseco was in the middle of a multiyear contract when he was obtained from the Oakland Athletics in August for outfielder Ruben Sierra and pitchers Bobby Witt and Jeff Russell, he could make the request.

He would have become a free agent and forfeited the remainder of his contract, $13.6 million through 1995, had the Rangers not been able to deal him. “The Rangers’ organization has been nothing but accommodating,” Canseco’s agent, Dennis Gilbert, said Sunday. “Jose likes everything about the situation (in Texas). He wants to make them a winner.”

Canseco will be paid $4.1 million in 1993. He batted .244 with 26 homers and 87 runs batted in last season as he struggled with back and shoulder ailments. Although it was his lowest homer total for an entire season, he still had the fifth-best power ratio in the American League with a home run every 16.9 at-bats.