After A’s condemn tweets, analyst gone

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — NBC Sports California severed ties with former Oakland outfielder Jose Canseco after a series of bizarre tweets about sexual harassment by the preand postgame analyst, and the A’s quickly distanced themselves from Canseco’s comments.

On Tuesday afternoon, Canseco tweeted, “These women complaining against sexual misconduct are just racist against ugly men.” He followed up with six related tweets that mentioned being beaten and molested by women as “kind of a turn on,” and ended with “What do you call a pretty woman with an inbred looking politician .... PAID.”

The tweets drew the ire of many Twitter followers. An hour later, the A’s put out a statement on Twitter: “We were disappointed to learn of Mr. Canseco’s statements. Mr. Canseco is not an employee of the Athletics and his statements do not reflect the values of our organization or those of our trusted partners.”

NBC Sports California, which typically finalizes contracts with baseball analysts in January, made it clear that Canseco will not be returning. He had been expected to be part of the studio crew for the 2018 season.

“Jose Canseco is no longer an employee with NBC Sports California,” the regional sports network announced in a statement. “His agreement with us ended after the 2017 season. We certainly don’t agree with his comments, which do not reflect the values of our network or our team partner.”

Canseco told The Chronicle via text, “If people can’t take a joke, that’s ridiculous. What I’m saying really has no meaning. Those tweets don’t even make any sense, they’re a bunch of riddles.”

When asked about the A’s response, Canseco said, “What company people should be more worried about is what the president of the United States is doing, not me . ... I’m just a simple guy trying to pay my bills, don’t worry about what I’m saying, worry about who’s running the country.”