BASEBALL / SPRING TRAINING REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Tim Burke Says He Is Retiring

Reliever Tim Burke, 34, said Saturday that he is retiring after being given his unconditional release from a triple-A contract with the Indianapolis Indians, at his request.

Burke’s best season was in 1989 when he had 28 saves and a 2.55 earned-run average for the Montreal Expos. He was 2-2 with no saves for the New York Yankees last season.

Moises Alou showed up only two hours late for the Montreal Expos’ first full-squad workout at West Palm Beach, Fla., ending what team officials said was the shortest holdout in franchise history.

Alou, runner-up in last season’s National League rookie of the year voting, is asking for $250,000 for 1993. The team is offering about $200,0000.

Left-hander Donovan Osborne, 23, a surprise 11-game winner for the St. Louis Cardinals last season, signed a contract with the team worth an estimated $140,000.

A day after Jack Clark was released by the Boston Red Sox, Oakland A’s Manager Tony La Russa mulled the possibility of signing the slugger.

The team that signs Clark would be responsible for only $109,000 of his $2.4-million contract this season.

“It’s worth talking about,” La Russa said. “The way the game is set up, there’s more possibility of considering guys like that.”