Puzzled Canseco Bashes Angels Over His Release

Jose Canseco marched into the manager’s office at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Thursday morning looking for answers as to why the Angels released him. After an hourlong, closed-door meeting with Manager Mike Scioscia and General Manager Bill Stoneman, all Canseco had were more questions.

“Bill told me it was based strictly on performance, but how can you judge a guy on 39 at-bats?” Canseco said. “Mike’s concern was that I couldn’t stay healthy for 130 games and they think [Glenallen] Hill can perform better, but anyone can get hurt. . . . I can’t make heads or tails from this.”

Though voices were raised at times during the meeting, Canseco seemed more perplexed than angry afterward. Why, when such an emphasis was being placed on spring at-bats, did Scioscia pull him off a team bus headed for Tucson on March 23 when Canseco was willing to play despite a twinge in his neck?

Why, Canseco wondered, were his ability and durability being questioned when coaches told him his bat speed looked good this spring and X-rays and MRI tests on his surgically repaired lower back revealed no abnormalities?

And why did Stoneman, when asked Wednesday how Canseco reacted to his release, say he “took it very well,” and that he “didn’t read a lot of surprise” in the slugger?

“I was in shock,” Canseco said. “The first thing I thought was, it was close to April 1. This had to be an April Fool’s joke. . . . This whole thing seems like a scene out of ‘The Twilight Zone.’ It’s a nightmare.”

Canseco criticized the Angels, saying they contributed to a perception that he is “damaged goods” and that their statements will hinder his chances of finding a job. He fumed about an ESPN report that back problems--he underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in 1999--were a factor in his release.

Canseco, who has been on the disabled list seven times in six years, missed 10 consecutive games this spring because of lower-back and hamstring injuries and another game because of the twinge in his neck.

Scioscia admitted to concerns about Canseco’s “long-term health” and questioned whether Canseco, 36, could perform with the types of minor injuries that bothered him this spring.

“I truly think these statements damage my chances of playing elsewhere,” said Canseco, who has 446 home runs but hit .231 with no homers this spring. “There’s a perception that I’m damaged goods, which is completely untrue. . . . If you’re a GM who reads between the lines and sees Jose Canseco is released after 39 at-bats, you must think there are other issues.”

The Angels claim the decision to trade for Hill and release Canseco boiled down to one issue: “We think we’ll be a better club with Hill instead of Canseco,” Stoneman said. “I wasn’t focused on health. I was focused on which designated hitter would give us the best chance to win.”

Canseco feels he never had a chance to show the Angels what kind of designated hitter he could be. Thinking he had made the team, Canseco approached this spring like any other--he took certain pitches in order to get a read on breaking balls; he didn’t rush to return from minor injuries.

That’s why he winced at Stoneman’s comment that Canseco “was taking too many pitches that were strikes, pitches he should have swung at.” It’s why Canseco cringed when he heard Scioscia question his ability to play through nagging injuries.

“I had no idea I would be judged on performance--I always thought spring training was a time for experimentation, to work with different stances, to get your timing down,” Canseco said. “Thirty-nine at-bats to judge a player? Wow, those are strict parameters.”

Canseco claimed he could have returned from a hamstring injury three days earlier than he did, but the Angels told him to take a few extra days. Scioscia, however, said Canseco “would have risked serious injury” had he tried to play, and that he could only run 60%-70% at the time.

“If Jose feels Bill’s evaluation is in error, that’s a difference of opinion,” Scioscia said. “But he understands where we’re coming from. No one was counting homers or RBIs in camp. The bottom line is there weren’t going to be enough at-bats for him with Glenallen Hill here.”

Both Stoneman and Scioscia said that if any general managers call about Canseco, they will give him a clean bill of health.

“But that may be too late, because the perception is already out there,” Canseco said.

Canseco believes his skills have not diminished. He said his bat speed is good, his arm is strong, “and I don’t think there are 10 guys in the major leagues who can beat me in a 40-yard dash,” he said. He just didn’t show enough of those skills to the Angels.

“Whether what we were seeing was influenced by aches and pains, that didn’t enter into the decision,” Stoneman said. “I was looking at production and performance, that’s it.”