With three more shopping days until pitchers and catchers report, the Reds are still shopping baseball's bargain basement.
The latest target is slugger Danny Tartabull.
The Reds have put an incentive-laden, low-base-salary contract on the table for the free-agent outfielder.
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Phillies ended negotiations with Tartabull after he turned down a $2 million offer that included $300,000 in incentives.
Tartabull, 34, hit .254 with 27 home runs and 101 RBI for the Chicago White Sox last season, when he made $5.3 million.
''I talked to his agent Dennis Gilbert Friday,'' Reds assistant general manager Doc Rodgers said. ''We couldn't come any closer.''
Rodgers said the sides were apart on three issues: base salary for this year, performance clauses and the total value of the deal.
''They've made an offer,'' said Ken Gurnick, an associate of Gilbert's. ''We're quite a bit apart. But there's always a chance.''
Gurnick said several other clubs are interested in Tartabull.
''But nothing is imminent,'' he said.
The Reds are counting on Tartabull getting anxious once spring training nears.
''Exactly,'' Rodgers said. ''Things always change.''
Catcher Joe Oliver is a case in point. He was hoping for a $1.5 million deal, but he settled for a $300,000, minor-league contract Sunday when no offers came in.
Reds GM Jim Bowden has a track record of waiting until late - even early March - to sign players.
The Reds already have three everyday outfielders in Ruben Sierra, Deion Sanders and Reggie Sanders. Two of them - Sierra and Reggie Sanders - are coming off disappointing years, and Deion Sanders has not played baseball for two years.
Tartabull falls into the same category as Sierra, a former star who has bounced around and lost some of his luster.
''He (Tartabull) is a good fit for us,'' Rodgers said, ''but economically, we can't afford what they're asking.''
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