Here's a real curve: Instead of accusing more major leaguers of using performance-enhancing drugs, Jose Canseco wants to help baseball deal with the lingering fallout of the sport's steroid era.

The former Bash Brother hopes to meet with commissioner Bud Selig and union head Donald Fehr to discuss his plan to help baseball move away from the steroid issue and make it "the great sport that it is."

"I think I have the ear of the nation now," Canseco said Tuesday. "I think everyone realizes I have not in any way, shape or form tried to create smoke and mirrors like Major League Baseball has and the players have. I have been excruciatingly honest about what's going on in baseball."

Canseco's attorney, Dennis Holahan, said he was sending a letter to Fehr and Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, offering the former slugger's assistance. Canseco, who has admitted using steroids, offered few specifics about what he planned to discuss in his proposed joint meeting, other than he was concerned about the "welfare of baseball."

"The goal is to come up with a plan to rid baseball of steroids once and for all," Holahan said.

In Canseco's 2005 book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big," Canseco claimed he introduced Oakland Athletics teammate Mark McGwire and other stars to steroids and performance-enhancing drugs. He wrote about injecting himself and McGwire in bathroom stalls, and how the effects of the drugs were the reason he hit 462 career home runs.

In his 2008 book, "Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball," Canseco said he introduced Alex Rodriguez to a steroids dealer.

Canseco declined comment on Rodriguez's admission Monday that he used banned substances from 2001-03 while playing for Texas.

Major League Baseball said it was willing to listen to Canseco's offer.

"Let's take a look at the letter and see what's inside the letter. It will be interesting," MLB spokesman Rich Levin said. "We'd be glad to get correspondence from Mr. Canseco and we'll deal directly with him."

Canseco has said he was called a liar and became a baseball outcast after he wrote "Juiced," and he feels he's now the only player from the steroid era with any shred of credibility. The 1988 AL MVP thinks he can really help end the use of banned substances with education about the dangers of drugs starting at the high school level.

"I believe so, with the right guidance," Canseco said.