BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When the Reds signed free-agent pitcher Pete Harnisch last month, it proved they're not going to stand pat with a young lineup just because payroll constraints won't allow them to delve into the market full bore.

Of course, Harnisch came at a surprisingly cheap price - just $300,000 for one year - because of a 1997 season diminished by a bout with depression.

And that $300,000 mark is the team's ceiling, General Manager Jim Bowden says, so competing for any of the remaining players on the market would be tough. Plus, with the Reds committed to youth, they probably don't want to stunt their younger players' development by allowing veterans to steal their playing time.

With just 2 1/2 weeks before the start of spring training, several solid players remain available for clubs looking for a wily veteran or two. Will the Reds snare any of them?

LHP Terry Mulholland: His '97 numbers weren't great (6-13, 4.24 ERA), but he did have twice as many strikeouts as walks, started 27 games and threw 186 innings. That's good enough for somebody, possibly a contender, to look at him.

Would he sign with the Reds? After spending most of '97 with the woeful Cubs, you'd think he'd know better. Also, he made $2.4 million last year, so even a big pay cut would keep him out of the Reds' range. RHP Andy Benes: The Reds need a No. 1 starter, but not this guy. He's asking for $7 million.

RHP Jack McDowell: The 1993 American League Cy Young winner, recovering from elbow surgery, could be a Harnisch-type steal for somebody. He threw earlier this week for media and scouts - including two from the Reds - and earned mixed reviews.

McDowell can't demand the millions he once did, but would he sign with the Reds for $300,000? Doubtful, especially since the deep-pocketed Yankees and Diamondbacks are said to be interested. IF-OF Tony Phillips: He wants to play for a contender or a team starting over from scratch. The Reds are neither, and they wouldn't want him anyway, given his arrest for drugs last season.

SS Shawon Dunston: Two words: Barry Larkin.

OF Jerome Walton: The Reds are committed to youth in their outfield, and rightly so. No room for this former Red.

DH-OF Jose Canseco: He's best as a designated hitter and is injury-prone. Besides, he's drawing strong interest from Toronto and is probably out of the Reds' price range.

No Larkin controversy

In the current issue of Baseball Weekly, Barry Larkin repeated he wants to play shortstop and would ask to be traded if the Reds moved him to a different spot.

''Well, if the Reds don't want me to play shortstop, I'll just play somewhere else,'' he said. ''I've worked too hard not to play shortstop.''

But there is no controversey here, Reds manager Jack McKeon said, because Larkin is the Reds' shortstop. Period, end of discussion.

''Barry Larkin is the shortstop. That's it,'' McKeon said. ''There was never any doubt in my mind. I told him that personally. No one has ever, in my regime, mentioned him playing anywhere else.''

Domininican phenom

The agent for Ricardo Aramboles, the 16-year old free agent from the Dominican Republic, has stopped taking initial offers for the pitcher's services and will narrow his list down to several finalists with whom he will negotiate.

The Reds submitted an offer to agent Rob Plummer last week but aren't likely to sign Aramboles because of their budget crunch. Plummer said this week he will not release the names of the finalists and doesn't expect Aramboles to sign anytime soon.

Hutch Award

Former Reds center fielder Eric Davis, fighting colon cancer, will be honored as the 1997 Hutch Award Winner today in Seattle. The award is named for former Reds manager Fred Hutchinson, who died of cancer in 1964. A cancer research fund will be established in honor of Davis.

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