Tuesday, August 11, 1998

BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jack McKeon

Negotiations with manager Jack McKeon on his contract extension are stalled, Reds managing executive John Allen said Monday.

McKeon met with both Allen and general manager Jim Bowden Monday without coming to an agreement on the financial terms of the team's one-year contract offer.

Allen, who negotiated McKeon's contract last year, characterized the negotiations as "at an impasse" but later said that might have been too strong a description. He would not disclose how far apart the sides are in terms of money but said there is no date set for a second meeting.

"We did make an offer, but we still have some negotiating to do," Allen said, stressing that the talks haven't been acrimonious. "It's just typical negotiating. Jack and I have a lot of mutual respect for each other. We'll get it done."

Bowden said he met with McKeon for about three hours Monday morning as the team worked a trade for Willie Greene, then had a good discussion about the organization's future direction of building with youth. McKeon wanted to make sure he and Bowden were still thinking along the same lines before signing a new deal.

"We went through the ball club from top to bottom, our farm system. It's amazing how we're almost on the same page on personnel . . .," Bowden said, adding that each man's opinions on the team's direction have "never been an issue" in McKeon's contract talks.

"The hold-up in the contract has nothing to do with anything except m-o-n-e-y," Bowden said.

When the subject of money came up, the negotiations "didn't go very well," Bowden said, so he referred McKeon to Allen. Typically, the Reds' president handles the manager and general manager's contracts.

There are plans for a second meeting between Allen and McKeon, but no timetable. McKeon has expressed a strong interest in returning for 1999, and the club wants him back.

"I don't think there's any hurry," Bowden said.