Steinbrenner Mad About Irabu

New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner is unhappy that San Diego could wind up with exclusive 1997 rights to pitcher Hideki Irabu.

The committee investigating Irabu’s situation is likely to recommend to the ruling executive council that San Diego be given exclusive rights for 1997 only, a management source said Friday. The Padres claim they obtained exclusive rights from his Japanese team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, last month.

The Yankees want to sign Irabu, and he wants to sign with New York. The executive council is scheduled to discuss the matter Thursday when it meets in Chicago.

“I’m going to find out who it was that said it--somebody within that little small group,” Steinbrenner said Saturday. “I won’t stop until that guy is gone. They have no business discussing it.”

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A possible contract extension was among the topics when Steinbrenner and Cecil Fielder met for 10 minutes Saturday.

Fielder wants a trade and could become a free agent if he isn’t dealt by March 15.

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Jose Canseco strolled fashionably late into Oakland’s spring training camp in Phoenix.

Canseco, beginning his second stint with the A’s, arrived in camp two days after his teammates and five days after his black Porsche was delivered to the team hotel.

“By my track record, I’m early,” Canseco said.

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John Olerud is looking forward to a fresh start this season with the New York Mets.

Olerud, acquired from Toronto in December, is trying to regain the form that got him a .363 average and the AL batting title in 1993.

“Last year I tried to pull the ball too much,” said Olerud, a career .293 hitter who saw his average drop to .274 last season. “I didn’t do a real good job at that. If I’m hitting the ball good and hitting the ball hard, the average and the production are going to go up.”