Jose Canseco Hired as Athletics On-Air TV Analyst for NBC Sports California

The Oakland Athletics announced on Monday that former MLB slugger Jose Canseco will serve as a pre- and postgame analyst this season for the team on NBC Sports California.

"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."

He also tweeted his excitement about taking the gig:

Canseco, 52, is one of the more eccentric and controversial figures in baseball history. He hit 462 home runs in 17 MLB seasons and became the first player in league history to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season in 1988, winning the AL MVP that year.

He was one-half of the famed "Bash Brothers" in Oakland alongside slugger Mark McGwire in the late '80s and '90s, the most exciting duo in baseball at the time.

But Canseco's career was also marred by steroid use, which he admitted to in his 2005 book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. He also claimed a number of MLB stars used steroids, including McGwire, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro.

While that book came before baseball cracked down on steroid use, Canseco's claims about the widespread use of PEDs in the sport were ultimately proven true. 

"It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” he said of writing the book, per Stiglich "It made the game better because it made the game look at what was going on internally. On the other end, because I wrote the book and went up against Major League Baseball, I got excommunicated."

It appears the Athletics are willing to bring him back in the fold, however. Certainly, Canseco should be entertaining. He's never been afraid to share his opinions on just about anything: 

As color commentators go, it's hard to imagine one more colorful than Canseco.