Canseco joins Athletics' TV crew as analyst

Oakland Athletics games - well, the pre- and post-game parts, anyway - just became must-see TV.

Jose Canseco, the controversial yet always entertaining former Athletics slugger, has joined the Athletics' broadcast crew for the 2017 season. He'll serve as an analyst during "A's Pregame Live" and "A's Postgame Live" on NBC Sports California.

CSN Bay Area also revealed that Canseco will be joined on air by his former A's teammate Dave Stewart. Another ex-Athletics hurler, Dallas Braden, will also reportedly be part of the broadcasts, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Canseco has never been shy about voicing his opinions when given a platform to do so, and it appears his first network television job won't change that one bit. The 52-year-old promised to continue his no-filter ways and speak his mind as freely as possible.

"I've got quite a bit of experience. I've pretty much been there, done all of that whether it's on or off the field," Canseco told Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area. "I think the fans can expect the truth - an honest opinion, honest analysis - and hopefully in some shape or form we expand the fan base.

"It's the first time I've gotten the opportunity to do something like this. Maybe fans would like to hear what my thoughts are, how things can be fixed or made better for the Oakland A's."

Canseco made his name as one of the most powerful sluggers baseball has ever seen as part of the Athletics' "Bash Brothers" tandem alongside Mark McGwire in the late 1980s. He won the 1988 AL MVP after completing the first 40-40 season in baseball history, and helped the A's to three straight pennants from 1988-90 and the 1989 World Series championship. Canseco mashed 462 home runs over his 17-year career with seven teams, 254 of which came in Oakland; he remains third on the team's all-time list.

But his attitude and off-field behavior during his playing career, along with his controversial and strange post-career adventures, have long since overshadowed any of his on-field accomplishments.

In recent years, Canseco has found himself outside of organized baseball after writing two tell-all books, the first of which - entitled "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big" - included wide-ranging allegations of steroid use against multiple baseball superstars. Canseco's become more famous these days for his often bizarre ramblings on Twitter and occasional appearances with independent baseball clubs.

This job will be Canseco's first association with an MLB club since 2002, when he played 76 games for the Chicago White Sox.