NEW YORK — Jose Canseco says in his upcoming book that he injected Mark McGwire with steroids and introduced several other sluggers to the drugs, the New York Daily News reported yesterday.

The long-awaited book — titled "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big" — is scheduled for release by Regan Books on Feb. 21.

Parent company HarperCollins posted a book description on its Web site that said Canseco "made himself a guinea pig of the performance-enhancing drugs" and added the 1988 American League MVP "mixed, matched and experimented to such a degree that he became known throughout the league as 'The Chemist.' "

The Daily News did not quote from the book and said it was still being edited. The newspaper would not say how it got the information. Canseco did not respond to an e-mail from the AP.

Canseco said he, McGwire and Jason Giambi shot steroids together in the bathroom stall at the Oakland Coliseum, the Daily News reported. McGwire has always denied using steroids.

"I have always told the truth, and I am saddened I continue to face this line of questioning," McGwire told the newspaper.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed Canseco and McGwire in Oakland, came down squarely in McGwire's corner.

"I just hope that the paper that made a big deal of Jose's accusations gives the same attention to those of us who know Mark," La Russa told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I couldn't disagree more. I categorically refuse to accept anything that Jose says about Mark.

"The biggest key for McGwire is that all of his strength and size gains came from five or six days a week of hitting the gym with a very disciplined workout, his protein intake and careful dieting. He was probably in the gym 10 times more than Jose, and Jose was bigger."

Canseco also said he introduced Texas teammates Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez to steroids after being traded to the Rangers in 1992.

"Neither our current owner, general manager and manager were with the Rangers then," Texas spokesman Gregg Elkin said. "The Rangers continue to support baseball's initiative to get steroids out of the game."

Canseco also said President Bush, the Rangers' general managing partner at the time, must have known about the steroid use.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy did not specifically address Canseco's assertion, but said yesterday that Bush's position on steroids "has been known for some time," noting that he condemned the drugs in his 2004 State of the Union address.

New York Yankees officials say they will be reading Canseco's book closely to find out what they can about Giambi, now under contract to them.

One high-ranking Yankees source said the team will be adding revelations from the book to its Giambi file.

Yankees brass had discussed voiding their contract with Giambi, who is still owed $82 million, when it was reported last year that he admitted to using steroids before a federal grand jury in the BALCO case. Team lawyers decided it would be nearly impossible to break the contract, but if any new information helps their case they may move ahead with a challenge.

Tigers land Ordonez

DETROIT — Magglio Ordonez, the last remaining premier free agent, and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a $75 million, five-year contract, a baseball source told AP on Saturday. The deal could be worth up to $105 million over seven seasons, the source said on the condition of anonymity.

The Tigers are expected to introduce the four-time All-Star outfielder at a news conference today.

"Most of us go into spring training excited, but when you sign a big-time guy like Ordonez, it makes you even more excited," Tigers pitcher Jason Johnson said yesterday in a telephone interview from Tampa, Fla. "It's really going to boost our morale. I can't wait to get started."

With Ordonez's bat in the middle of the lineup, Detroit figures to improve its chances of competing in the AL Central, expected to be among the weaker divisions in the major leagues this year.

D-Rays sign Lee, trade Cruz to D-backs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays traded outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. and cash to the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday for left-handed pitcher Casey Fossum. The D-Rays also agreed to a $1.3 million, one-year contract with free-agent first baseman Travis Lee, who can make an additional $200,000 in performance bonuses.

Cruz, who began his major-league career with the Mariners, hit .242 with 21 home runs and 78 runs batted in for the Devil Rays last season. He has 175 homers and 535 RBI during eight seasons with Seattle, Toronto, San Francisco and Tampa Bay.

Lee, from Olympia's Capital High School, made $2 million with the Yankees last season but played in just seven games after tearing the labrum in his left shoulder during spring training. He had just two hits in 19 at-bats.