Jose Canseco played for the Worcester Tornadoes earlier this season, but alleges that he did not receive his full salary.
One-time American League MVP Jose Canseco, who began this season playing for the Worcester Tornadoes in the independent Can-Am League, is suing his former employer according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
[Mr. Canseco] accused the Tornadoes and their owner, Todd Breighner, of breach of contract, defamation, unjust enrichment, failure to pay wages and misrepresentation….
Mr. Canseco alleges in the suit that checks totaling $7,000 that he received after complaining about the money owed him were issued from bank accounts containing insufficient funds and bounced.
Canseco filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Can Am league ceases to exist. Hope I’m wrong though.
I believe that recently Worcester had it’s equipment seized by their cleaning company for $4,000 in unpaid bills. The fact they didn’t pay Canseco is believable.
Notice the 1 fan behind the dugout, I didnt even know that the Can Am league existed. When Jose Canseco’s big league career ended did he stop playing baseball or did he sign with a differant league right away? I was surprised that Canseco was still playing at all.
-Paul
http://apieceofthegame.mlblogs.com/
Canseco has made several prior forays into independent baseball. In 2006, he played for the San Diego Surf Dawgs and Long Beach Armada in the Golden League. In 2010, he suited up for the Laredo Broncos in United League Baseball. Last year, it was the Yuma Scorpions in the North American League.
I was wondering why he only played about 20 games with them. Now I know.
Don’t forget, Canseco couldn’t really hit Can-Am League pitching. He blamed the umpires – and there’s certainly something to that idea – strike zones change from pitch to pitch. But at least in the games I saw, he reminded me a bit of the 2012 version of Jason Bay.
Wherever Mr. Canseco goes, trouble is sure to follow along close behind.
Yeah, it’s obviously Canseco’s fault the team didn’t pay him. Right.
Let’s remember that through the whole steroid fiasco–up to and including today–the ONLY individual who acquitted himself with honesty was Jose Canseco. Not saying I love a rat. But you certainly can’t blame him for expecting to be paid for his services.
Yes, that does seem to be true. But he is still entitled to receive any wages he is owed as well as consideration for any fees he incurrd as a result of bounced checks.
Looks like Canseco is joining the line of people looking for a little restitution. The following is from last Saturday’s Worcester Telegram: Oh, and with Newark going their AC Surf imitation (drop from the Atlantic League to the Can Am and be out of business in two years), the Can Am may be just about cooked.
Worcester Tornadoes, creditor work on resolution
$12,000 allegedly owed for apparel
By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com
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WORCESTER — Lawyers for the Worcester Tornadoes and Northeast Promotion and Apparel Inc., one of its creditors, will continue to try to resolve a legal dispute over money the Fitchburg company says it is owed by the baseball team.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20120818/NEWS/108189979/1116
Oh, and I missed a couple, as the Tornadoes also owe money to the City of Worcester, Holy Cross and the Hilton Garden Inn in Worcester. (courtesy Boston Business Journal)
Hopefully the Tornadoes can make it through the last week+ of the season… otherwise, I may have gone to my final Newark Bears game of 2012 tonight.
I’ve got to figure that, at this stage of the game, the Tornadoes will limp to the finish line and that’ll be that. Not sure what the playoff structure is in the Can Am (top two, winner plays AA winner?), but the Tornadoes are in last, 3 1/2 games out of fourth. So, no matter how you slice it, Worcester will be history in about a week.