Former AL MVP looking for a job in Japan

By WAYNE GRACZYK

One of baseball's most colorful and controversial figures is looking to make a comeback as a player at age 46, and his agent thinks Japan might be the place where Jose Canseco can resume his checkered career.

Nello Gamberdino, based in Chicago, represents the former major league superstar, and he has recently contacted all 12 Central and Pacific League teams, asking for a tryout for the one-time big league home run king and American League MVP.

Though it is obviously a long shot, Gamberdino thinks there is a chance some club will realize the potential of having the Canseco name in its lineup, despite the age factor, his history of using performance-enhancing substances and other off-the-field problems.

What has the agent excited is the fact Canseco played a stint last season in independent league ball with the Laredo Broncos (where he hit .385 with four homers and 13 RBIs in just 39 at-bats) and, according to Gamberdino, he went into the league out of shape but still looked good and hit some monster shots as he did regularly 15 or 20 years ago in the majors.

"He's been working out and is in great shape now," said Gamberdino, who added, "I know age is definitely an issue trying to land him somewhere, but I see where Japanese teams last season listed 16 players over the age of 40, including one (pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo of the Seibu Lions) who was 47.

"A second obstacle (in trying to get him a contract) is that people think it's a joke or publicity stunt; that he's only in it for the money, but Jose would play for free."

Gamberdino adds he wouldn't let his client play for nothing but would not be asking for a huge amount either.

Regarding the slugger's revelation of having used the banned substances and authoring a tell-all book, naming others who cheated, Gamberdino had this to say: "He took steroids and admitted so, but it's not so much what he did; rather the way he disclosed it by writing a book. Others who took steroids still enjoy playing and coaching (at a high level).

"I was not involved with him at that time and, as far as I am concerned, that is all water under the bridge. He is not taking steroids now and has not taken them in several years.

"Before deciding to take him as a client, I checked on him, and everyone with whom I talked who knew Jose said he was a great teammate; the first person to pick up a bill at a restaurant . . ."

Gamberdino has never been to Japan and never placed a player in Japan, so he does not have the contacts as do agents who have been regularly doing business with the Japanese teams. Canseco has experience playing in Japan as a member of the Major League Baseball's 1986 postseason All-Star touring team. That's when he was just breaking in with the Oakland Athletics at age 22 and was named the American League Rookie of the Year.

Gamberdino said he has sent a faxed letter to all 12 Japanese pro teams, trying to attract some interest. He had the message translated into Japanese and also sent it by regular post.

He confided that seven teams have responded, and four — Hanshin, Hiroshima, Softbank and Rakuten — said politely their foreign player rosters are full and they have no interest.

However, he said, as of Thursday, three clubs have left open the door for a possible connection, though he declined to name them. The other five teams have not responded.

Should a Central or Pacific League team decide to take a chance on Canseco, a contract would presumably have to be approved by the NPB, and there is precedent for a commissioner stepping in to dissuade a Japanese club from hiring an American player with a questionable background.

The late Steve Howe, in March of 1987, was invited to spring training by the Seibu Lions, but the former Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher left the country after then-Japanese Commissioner Juhei Takeuchi said he would prefer Howe, suspended by Major League Baseball seven times for drug use, not play in Japan.

"There is no way we can know for sure (if Canseco can still play) unless some team gives him a chance. He would definitely put people in the seats, as attendance would skyrocket," said Gamberdino.

"He can still crush the ball and hit home runs, and it would not be a bad business decision. Work him out, and see if you don't think he can contribute as a first baseman or DH."

They are also trying the Korea Baseball Organization.

Taking A Look At The Competition, Pt. 1

Despite financial limitations, the Oakland A's have been one of the busiest teams this off season. After finishing 81-81 (2nd in the AL West), Oakland set out to improve the one area where they have had a glaring weakness: their offense.

However, after missing out on the big name free agent bats of Lance Berkman (signed w/ St. Louis) and Adrian Beltre (signed w/ Texas), Oakland decided to make their areas of strength, stronger. Over the last couple of days, Oakland has added two legitimate arms, signing a pair of relievers in Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes.

Balfour, a 7-year veteran, was outstanding two of the last three years in Tampa, compiling a 1.54 ERA in 2008 and 2.28 ERA in 2010. The righty also has playoff experience, having pitched in 5 different series and registering an ERA of 3.60.

Fuentes (4-time All-Star) could be an even bigger signing for Oakland. Since 2005, the left-hander has recorded 183 saves while putting up a 3.14 ERA. While he will not be the primary closer in Oakland, he will no doubt get his chances to close out a good many of their games.

The addition of Fuentes and Balfour to a bullpen which already includes the likes of Brad Ziegler (2.51 ERA in 3 seasons), Craig Breslow (2.87 ERA in 5 seasons), Michael Wuertz (9.7 K/9 over 7 seasons), and Andrew Bailey (2-time All-Star, 51 saves, 1.70 ERA in 2 seasons) means, that at least on paper, Oakland will go into the season with the strongest bullpen in baseball.
Their starting pitching appears to be every bit as talented as the bullpen. Oakland goes into Spring Training with 4 of their 5 rotation spots all but locked up, all by pitchers 26 years old or younger. The staff will be led by Gio Gonzalez (15 wins, 3.23 ERA) and Trevor Cahill (18 wins, 2.97 ERA), followed by Brett Anderson (2.80 ERA) and Dallas Braden (3.50 ERA). The 5th spot in the rotation could go to one of two former Rangers, Brandon McCarthy or Rich Harden. McCarthy, a pitcher with tons of talent, has yet to remain healthy enough to ever realize his full potential. Harden had a couple of nice seasons with Oakland in '04 and '05, but has spent much of the last 5 years on the disabled list.

Offensively, there remains several question marks. While Oakland was able to add David DeJesus (.289 BA in 8 seasons w/ Kansas City), Josh Willingham (102 HR in 5 seasons) and Hideki Matsui (21 HR, 84 RBI in 2010 w/ L.A. Angels), they traded away Rajai Davis (50 steals in 2010) and lost Jack Cust (97 HR, 300 RBI in 4 seasons) to free agency. To me, I don't see where much of any improvement was made with these additions when you factor in what they lost. No doubt the A's are hoping young players like Shortstop Cliff Pennington (.250 BA, 29 steals) and Chris Carter (123 HR, 406 RBI in 4 Minor League seasons) take the next step in their progression. They will also need veterans like Coco Crisp (32 steals) and Kurt Suzuki (13 HR, 71 RBI) to continue to produce if they are have any chance in the AL West. As it stands, Oakland may well show slight improvement offensively but will likely be looking to add another bat at some point during the season.

Overall, Oakland should be able to best their 81 wins of 2010. Their pitching should be top notch, they have a lineup filled with guys who know how to do the little things, and the additions of Matsui and Willingham should provide the team a little more pop in the middle of the order.

Oakland Drops Final Game But Take Series With Rangers

Texas got a nice effort out of Tommy Hunter today as he bared down and willed a win out of the suddenly luckless Rangers.

Hunter gave Texas seven innings of 2-run ball, allowing just five hitters to reach base.

"It's what I'm supposed to do," Hunter said. "The bullpen had been used up quite a bit and needed to be refreshed going into the Anaheim series. It was nice to give them a break. The big thing was getting a win before a big series. I was glad I could do my job."

"We needed that from Tommy," third baseman Michael Young said. "That was a big performance. They scored two right away, but Tommy locked it up after that. For a young guy, Tommy is poised. He stayed after it and kept competing."

Despite a throwing error by Jarrod Saltalamacchia which assisted in giving Oakland the early 2-0 lead, Hunter was able to work through the early struggles and retire 13 of the next 14 hitters he faced.

"He limited us to those few hits," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "I thought we got a couple good swings on him early. We had those early chances, but after that he started settling in pretty well."

Hank Blalock provided some early offense, hitting his 21st homerun of the season. In the 3rd inning, Michael Young added another homerun, his 18th, as well as an RBI single, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. RBI base hits by David Murphy, Andruw Jones and Marlon Byrd capped the scoring for Texas.

After a scoreless inning by Frank Francisco, C.J. Wilson came in and made things interesting, walking one and allowing a couple of base hits before closing the A's out for the win.



While the victory sends Texas to Anaheim on a positive, it's a far cry from where they had to believe they'd be before the 4-game set in Oakland began. But poor pitching and lackluster hitting cost the Rangers a chance to cut into the Angels lead in the West, as well as Boston's lead in Wild Card race.

Texas is going to have to get better outing out of guys like Derek Holland and Vicente Padilla if they are to stay close in either race. The offense is what it is, inconsistent. The Rangers simply cannot afford to rely of them for steady run support because it hasn't been there all season and it's not just going to magically appear. The pitching has carried this thing all season long and if they are to make a push in August and September, it will be on the shoulders of the pitching staff, not the offense. This makes it all the more important that players like Vicente Padilla not go out and allow six runs in 5 2/3 innings. It also means that guys like Derek Holland, despite his age, have to step up and give the Rangers more than 4 1/3 innings of work.

Make no mistake about it, Texas gave Oakland three wins. The A's ran up the white flag a few weeks ago when they traded away Matt Holiday and Orlando Cabrera. True blue playoff caliber teams don't drop three in a row to teams like Oakland.

Feliz Impressive In Debut But Texas Falls Late

Believe it or not, this actually got worse after C.J. Wilson's 3-run, 9th inning meltdown which gave Oakland the 3-2 victory.

Following Rajai Davis' 2-run, walkoff triple, Nelson Cruz came up lame in right field and had to be asisted off the field. He apparently sprained his ankle and will probably miss at least the next few games. If it looks no better by then, Cruz make find his way to the 15-day disable list.

"The ball hit off the wall and I was trying to block it," Cruz said. "Then I tried to turn and the foot got stuck in the metal part of the wall. My ankle turned."

Cruz's injury could not come at a worse moment for an offense that has been struggling to find itself since the beginning of the season.

Dustin Nippert, again making a last second spot start, pitched very well for the Rangers, going five innings while striking out five and allowing just one hit. He left with a 1-0 lead.

Rookie sensation Neftali Feliz made his major league debut in the 6th inning, striking out the first four batters he faced, throwing a fastball that topped out at 101 mph. Overall, Feliz pitched two innings of hitless baseball.

"Pretty impressive debut," manager Ron Washington said. "Not so much the strikeouts but the way he filled up the strike zone with strikes."

"When I first got up there, I felt a little nervous," Feliz said. "But once I threw the first pitch, I knew what I was doing and felt comfortable."

The bullpen continued to post shutout inning up till the 9th, when C.J. Wilson came in and imploded, allowing four hits, including the game-winner by Rajai Davis.

"Sometimes you get beat by the long ball, sometimes you get beat by the short ones," Wilson said. "Absolute luck, that's all it is. All of them were lucky hits, dude. They didn't hit any of those balls hard."



Oakland rookie starting pitcher Brett Anderson dominated the Rangers for 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8 while allowing just two runs.

"Brett was great," A's manager Bob Geren said. "There's a lot of home run hitters on that team, and I thought he tied them down well. ... He was pretty pinpoint with his control, really. He commanded both sides of the plate. He had the perfect game plan, and he executed it."

Michael Wuertz picked Anderson up, pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, nabbing his 6th victory of the year.

"That was a tough one right there," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We had them right where we wanted them to be, and we had the right guy in the game."

Rangers Ends Big Month On A Sour Note, Drop One Late To A's

Texas looked flat on for six innings on Sunday, falling behind 4-0, mounting zero offense against Oakland starter Dallas Braden.

Kevin Millwood battled for six innings, leaving down 2-0 but despite being credited with a quality start, didn't have his best stuff and needed 116 pitches to get through the sixth.

"I was just a little inconsistent out there," Millwood said. "I threw too many pitches, especially in the first and second inning, that ran me out of gas. I still feel like I'm pitching well but not getting the results. It is what it is. All I can do is control what I can control and not worry about anything else."

In the bottom of the seventh, Texas finally put a rally together, scoring two runs thanks to a double down the left field line by Jarrod Saltalammachia. They came back in the bottom of the eighth and tied the game, getting RBI singles by Hank Blalock and Marlon Byrd. Unfortunately, David Murphy struck out followed by a popout by Saltalammachia, ending the inning.

Feeling his team had a little momentum, Ron Washington inserted his closer, Frank Francisco in the top of the ninth, hoping to get yet another scoreless inning out of the righty. But, for the first time in 30 appearances dating back to the middle of August last season, Francisco allowed a run, surrendering a solo homerun to Adam Kennedy.

"Frankie has been lights out all year long," said Michael Young. "We expect him to be great, they just got a big home run off him. If we have that situation again, I like our chances."

Before serving up the homerun, Francisco had not allowed a run in 17 2/3 innings this season, the longest streak this season by a pitcher without giving up a run.

"We can't expect him to be perfect," outfielder David Murphy said. "We're disappointed with the way it happened, but by no means did we expect him to be scoreless the entire season. He's allowed to make a mistake now and then."



Texas wasn't able to get the run back as Ian Kinsler grounded into a double play to end the game. Kinsler had yet another rough day, committing and error, going 1-for-5while having yet another homerun stolen from him by Oakland centerfielder Ryan Sweeney and ending the game with the aforementioned double play.

Texas Pounds Oakland, Takes Game 3 In Rout

Texas may find themselves wishing the month of May would never end.

Playing before a crowd in excess of 42,000 fans, Texas put on show, drilling Oakland for the third time in two days.

"A refreshing victory," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We're having fun and it's easy to have fun when you're doing the things we're doing. We're pitching pretty good, catching the ball pretty good and doing enough to put runs on the board. Tonight we broke out a little bit."

With the win, Texas now moves to 20-8 for the month of May, besting last years mark of 19-10. They have won 14 of 19 games and find themselves atop the American League West.

"It all starts with pitching and defense," said third baseman Michael Young. "I know that sounds like a broken record around here, but that's why we're having so much fun."

Brandon McCarthy provided much of the quality pitching tonight, going six innings, allowing only one run, picking up his team-leading 5th victory of the season.

But the real stars of the night were on the offensive side of the ball, hammering Oakland pitching for fourteen runs on seventeen hits. Ian Kinsler led the charge with a four-RBI night but was backed up by nice offensive outings by several other Rangers, most notably Michael Young and Elvis Andrus, each of whom turned in 3-for-5, 2 RBI performances.



Nelson Cruz added a 445-foot blast in the bottom of the 5th inning, his 7th homerun in eleven games.

"Our approach has been a little off, so we've made it a point to have better at bats," said Michael Young.

Ian Kinsler echoed Young's thoughts adding, "If you're generating walks, you're having good at-bats and not swinging at bad pitches. That's what we need all up and down the lineup, just tough at-bats. Swing at strikes and take balls. If we can be consistent in that, our offense will be much better."

The Rangers are 13-2 against the AL West this season.

"I've always said that you want to play well within your division," Washington said. "If you win a lot within your division, the opportunity to be successful is much greater. We're winning in our division and we hope it continues."

It appears as though the fans are starting to believe in the success as well as Texas has enjoyed eight straight home crowds of 30,000 or more, the longest streak since 2005.

Rangers Sweep Doubleheader Against A's, 10 Games Over .500 For First Time Since 2005

Coming off a disappointing series loss against the New York Yankees, the Rangers looked to get back on track against the last-place Oakland A's.

In game 1 of the doubleheader, Texas sent Tommy Hunter to the mound. Hunter was a last minute call-up from Oklahoma City, needed to make a spot start. Hunter did the job, going 5 1/3 innings and holding the A's down long enough for his offense to come through.

"Tommy got us through five, gave us a chance to win," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He looked more under control. For the most part, he got it done."

With Texas down 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Marlon Byrd came through with a game-tying solo homerun. Andruw Jones and Nelson Cruz put the Rangers ahead for good with 2-run and solo blasts respectively. The lead proved to be more than enough for Frank Francisco, who has been absolutely dominant all season, giving Texas a 6-3 win in the opener.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Texas sent Scott Feldman to the mound. Feldman has been very consistent since stepping into the starting five, giving the back end of the rotation some real stability. Despite some control issues on Friday, Feldman got the job done once again, going six innings while allowing only two earned runs.



"There wasn't a single inning he worked that was easy," Washington said. "He worked pretty hard to get to the sixth."

Texas scored four runs in the 1st inning thanks to RBI doubles by Josh Hamilton and Hank Blalock, and a 2-out, 2-run single by backup catcher Taylor Teagarden.

Oakland was never able to put together any offense, managing only five base hits over the course of nine innings.

Jason Jennings picked up his fourth hold of the season, pitching two innings of shutout ball. C.J. Wilson closed the game out with a 1-2-3 9th inning, picking up hiw fourth save of the year.

Ron Washington was thrilled with the effort.

"Two very efficient ballgames," said Washington. "We had great defense, clutch hitting. That's a lot of fun.

Rangers Rocked In Finale, Leave Oakland With A Split

Brandon McCarthy was cruising right along for three innings. He had spoken openly about his desire to give Texas at least seven strong innings the way Millwood and Padilla had done the last two games.

Jack Cust had other plans for McCarthy's day.

After loading the bases in the 4th, McCarthy served up a grand slam homerun to Cust, Oakland's biggest power threat.

"It feels good," Cust said. "In that situation, bases loaded, nobody out, there's not a lot of pressure on the hitter. You've just got to basically hit a ball in the air. That's what I was trying to do. I wasn't trying to hit a home run."



After a solo homerun by Chris Davis made the score 4-1, Oakland came back in the bottom of the 5th and hit another homerun, this time a 3- run shot off the bat of the struggling Matt Holiday. Brandon McCarthy did not retire a batter in the 5th inning.

"I feel like it's coming along pretty good," Holliday said of his swing. "The last couple days I felt pretty good. I definitely think that confidence is an important part of this game, and when ... five or six guys have good at-bats, confidence is high for all those guys, and it carries over."

Ron Washington wrapped the game up into a nice, neat package.

"They beat us today," Washington said. "A grand slam home run ... a three-run home run. They swung the bats today."

Oakland starting pitcher Trevor Cahill pitched well, stringing out Texas' hits, keeping them from striking with men on base. Today's win was the first of his Major League career.

"I just went after them today. When I did got behind, I didn't give in," said Cahill.

Despite a late charge which saw Texas plate three runs in the top of the 9th off reliever Brad Ziegler, the Rangers offense looked confused and out of sorts.

"We let him slip away," said Marlon Byrd, who went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles. "First time facing a young guy ... he had different stuff, a knuckleball, a little slider, pretty good changeup. We need to make adjustments the next time we face him. If we give Brandon some runs early, things might have been different. He could have pitched more aggressively. Pitching has been keeping us in there, it's time for the offense to pick things up."

Feldman Solid As Rangers Take Over 1st Place In The AL West

Kris Benson may well have come off the disabled list but Scott Feldman is doing everything in his power to keep Benson's spot in the starting rotation.

Yesterday in Oakland, Feldman pitched a gem of a game, throwing six solid innings, allowing only two earned runs on 89 pitches. Since some struggles early in the season, Feldman is keeping the ball down, working quickly, and getting ground balls. He is now 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in three starts and opponents are hitting .186 off him as a starter. They hit .355 off him as a reliever.

"He was really pounding the ball inside, especially to lefties," Athletics outfielder Travis Buck said. "He threw a lot of cutters, and when it's 91-93 and he's throwing it for strikes, that's a tough pitch to hit. And he did a nice job by showing his curveball and change early in the game, so it wasn't like you could just sit on one pitch. It was just tough to square balls up."

Feldman then gave way to rookie Derek Holland who pitched two scoreless innings, getting the first hold of his young career.

The 9th inning belonged to Frank Francisco who picked up his ninth save of the season, yops in the American League.



Texas got it's offense going thanks to a solo homerun in the 1st by rookie short stop Elvis Andrus. In the top of the 4th, Marlon Byrd singled into right field, followed by a line drive double by the scorching Nelson Cruz. David Murphy pushed Byrd across with a sacrifice fly. Chris Davis then plated Cruz with an RBI single to center.

Despite surrending two runs in the bottom of the inning, Feldman and Co. made the three runs stand up. Manager Ron Washington seems pleased with the progress the pitching staff has made since the beginning of the season.

"I hope it continues," Washington said. "We're getting better. We're progressing. Those guys are taking the ball and they're taking a lot of pride in what they're doing. The tone is set with starting pitching. We're playing great defense and we're getting timely hitting. The guys in the clubhouse deserve a lot of credit, especially the pitchers."

Texas now has a season high five game winning streak and, save for the first few games of this season, find themselves in first place of the AL West for the first time since June 14th, 2006. Veteran Michael Young wants everyone to keep things in perspective.

"First place is nice, but it means more to me that we're playing good baseball," said Young, who extended his current hitting streak to 10 games on Wednesday. "We're pitching extremely well and we're playing good defense. Those are two things we were really bearing down on in Spring Training. We knew our offense could score runs in bunches."

Oakland Steals One, Texas Finishes Under .500 For 3rd Straight April

Ian Kinsler was robbed. Robbed. Robbed.

In the bottom of the 8th, Texas down 3 to 1 with two men on, Ian Kinsler hit a shot to straight away center and looked like he had put Texas ahead. Frank Francisco was warming in the bullpen. The 13,000 fans in attendance were on their feet. Then Oakland centerfielder Ryan Sweeney took off and, timing his jump perfectly, extended his glove over the centerfield wall and hauled the sure homerun back, ending both the inning and any momentum Texas had built.



"It was pretty much timing," Sweeney said. "I just jumped, got lucky and caught it. ... He hit it dead center. I think if he would have pulled it a little bit, it might have gone."

Oakland got a great outing from Dallas Braden as he went five innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out six.

Texas starter Vicente Padilla also pitched well, going six innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out four.

Michael Young went 2 for 5 but was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. Two hitters later, Hank Blalock hit a solo homerun. This is yet another in a long line of fundamental baserunning errors that have been costing Texas runs early in the season.

Playoff teams don't give runs away. Playoff teams make other teams pay for doing the very things Texas is doing by constantly shooting themselves in the foot.

Millwood Gives Gutsy Performance, Leads Texas To 5-4 Victory

You gotta hand it to Kevin Millwood: He's doing his part.

Millwood took the mound last night and, despite not having his best stuff, battled for 8 innings, giving the offense and chance to get back into the game.

And get back into it they did, scoring three in the 6th, finally pulling ahead in the bottom of the 8th inning thanks to an RBI single by Nelson Cruz.

Truth be told, Texas was lucky to even be in a position to take the lead.

Oakland's starting pitcher Brett Anderson was pitching well before developing a blister on his left index finger. He was pulled from the game in the 6th inning. Reliever Santiago Casilla, third baseman Nomar Garciaparra and second baseman Mark Ellis were all forced out of the game with calf injuries.

"We definitely caught some breaks tonight," Michael Young said.



Frank Francisco pitched the 9th, continuing his dominance and picking up his 6th save of the year. He has still yet to allow an earned run this season.

"That was big-time right there by Frankie," manager Ron Washington said. "That was really big-time."

"It was great," Millwood said. "He was doing what he has been doing all year, coming in there and throwing quality strikes. He's enjoying his job, and everybody is confident when he comes in."

Since Aug. 22, Francisco is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA with five walks and 30 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings over 23 appearances. He is 11-for-11 in save opportunities, and opponents are hitting .113 off him.

"I don't know of any team that doesn't have a shut-down guy like that and gets to the playoffs," Byrd said. "You need a guy that when he comes in, you feel the game is over. When Frankie comes into the game for us, it's a sigh of relief."