Not to say that fans of the Detroit Tigers wouldn't have had a reason to dislike Jose Canseco before, based on principle, if nothing else.  But Canseco's grandstanding about being a whistle blower (book sales pimp) for steroid use is now hitting close to home.  

According to today's New York Times, Canseco planned to name Magglio Ordonez as a steroid user in his next "tell-all" book, unless Ordonez invested money in a planned film project.  (The film in question, by the way, is a documentary based on Canseco's first book, Juiced.)  Sources on this story come from inside Major League Baseball.

As you might have guessed, Canseco denies the allegations.  The original ghostwriter of his new project, however, says that Ordonez was indeed going to be named in the book (which will apparently still be released on March 31), and would be the most significant player mentioned.

Ordonez, meanwhile, didn't elaborate, other than to confirm that he told Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski about Canseco attempting to contact him.  The Tigers notified the commissioner's office, and MLB registered a complaint with the F.B.I.  Ordonez also said that Canseco, who was a teammate on the 2001 Chicago White Sox, did not outright ask for money.  

So if you're like me, maybe one of your first thoughts was "Extortion!"  The Times reporters consulted a Columbia law professor to see if Ordonez had a case.

Something else to consider is how this affects the veracity of the Mitchell Report.  For one thing, Canseco obviously didn't tell George Mitchell everything he supposedly knew.  And Mitchell apparently didn't know of Canseco hitting players up for money, nor any F.B.I. investigations into the matter.  At least such information isn't in the report.