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March 14, 2000 -- Cuban born slugger, Jose Canseco is feeling good and feels he can hit 40-50 home runs this season for the Tampa Bay, Devil Rays. Last season, Canseco missed many games due to a back injury which required back surgery. Even at that, Canseco slammed 34 homeruns and knocked in 95 RBI's in 430 at bats (113 games). Canseco reported late to spring training and said his repaired back feels great and predicted the Devil Rays will improve dramatically over a year ago with Greg Vaughn and Vinny Castilla joining him and Fred McGriff in the middle of the lineup. "We're not just building a team, we're going to have a chance to win," the two-time AL home run champion said. "I definitely don't see us right now being a .500 ballclub. I see us finishing at least 20 games above .500." Canseco hit .279 despite missing 35 games in July and August after surgery for a herniated disc. He returned to the lineup sooner than expected, but only had three homers in 31 games (one every 38.3 at-bats) after hitting 31 in 82 games (one every 10.16 at-bats) before the injury. The Devil Rays did not make an issue of his being the last player to report, primarily because they expected it. He was two days late last year and rarely reported on time during stints with the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. He joined his teammates on the field a little more than an hour into Monday's workout and probably will sit out the first few exhibition games while getting into playing shape at his own pace. The 6-4, 245 pounds, Jose Canseco is 69 homeruns shy of 500 and has the most career home runs among any Latino baseball player.
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