The Reds' contract negotiations with minor-league free agent Pete Rose Jr. have hit a snag over where he'll spend spring training.
Rose wants to be invited to the major-league camp, but the Reds now want him to go to the minor league camp after withdrawing their original offer to put him on the major-league roster. That appears to be the only stumbling block to signing a contract, agent Joe Bick said Thursday.
''I don't know if (the offer) can be changed, but this is not an issue that's going to hold us back,'' Bick said. ''Pete realizes he might be better off spending a year in Triple-A and putting up some numbers.''
Bick said Rose has rejected offers from three other teams, but that the Reds remain the top contender.
Larkin not bait
General Manager Jim Bowden said Thursday even though deals are always possible, he is unlikely to trade shortstop Barry Larkin. Bowden said it would take a ''Herschel Walker-type deal'' to trade Larkin, meaning a team would have to offer a gaggle of promising players for the Reds to even consider letting him go. Bowden added no team has approached him about such a deal.
Even if one did, Bowden said, he probably wouldn't deal the shortstop because of his status as one of the best players in franchise history. ''They'd have to fire me first,'' Bowden said.
Bowden said there is one instance in which he would trade Larkin: if Larkin asked for it. Larkin, who turns 34 in April, said last fall he would agree to a trade to a contender - but not demand one - if the Reds failed to stay competitive while rebuilding. Bowden said Larkin has not approached him to ask for a trade.
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