DENVER — The weight of the Reds' upcoming financial obligations has slowed talks concerning shortstop Barry Larkin's contract extension.

        The slow pace of negotiations prompted Larkin's agent, Eric Goldschmidt, to say Tuesday: “We're going to try free agency and see what happens. They made us an offer, and it was totally unacceptable.”

        Larkin distanced himself from Goldschmidt's urgency, though sources have confirmed the Reds have not come close to matching their March proposal. Larkin is believed to have submitted a three-year, $27 million bid; general manager Jim Bowden said the team has made a “significant, long-term” offer.

        Yet the impasse remains. And neither Larkin nor Bowden sounded worried about it.

        “I still believe we can work it out. They have a year to get it done,” said Larkin, who's in the final year of a contract that will pay him $5.3 million this season, substantially below market value for a 10-time All-Star.

        “(Talks) are always subject to continuing. I don't think there's a rush on either side,” said Bowden, who reiterated his intent to keep Larkin in a Cincinnati uniform for the rest of his playing career. “If we want him to finish his career as a Red, and every indication is he wants to be a Red, hopefully at some point it gets done.”

        Bowden would rather not commit a large percentage of the club's payroll to two players — Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr., who will earn an average of $12.5 million in each of the next nine years. Bowden cited a potential salary imbalance, although the Associated Press has reported that $6.5 million of Griffey's salary will be deferred each year beginning next season.

        The Reds will be obligated to hand significant raises to first baseman Sean Casey and relief ace Danny Graves, who'll become eligible for salary arbitration after this season, and second baseman Pokey Reese and outfielder Dmitri Young, who already are arbitration-eligible. Cincinnati's 2000 payroll of nearly $47 million ranks only 21st in the major leagues, but that's $9 million higher than last year's season-ending payroll.

        “Economically, we need to make sure that we can keep our team together,” Bowden said. “We're not for just two players making all of our money and not being able to retain Pokey Reese, Sean Casey and our other good young players ...

        “We don't want to be put in a situation like Houston was put in where they sign (Jeff) Bagwell and (Craig) Biggio and then have to trade (Mike) Hampton, (Derek) Bell and (Carl) Everett to be able to afford to do that. We don't think we can win with just two players. Seattle proved that over the last several years (with Griffey and Alex Rodriguez). So we definitely want to have Barry in a way that we can continue to win with him.”

        Goldschmidt and Larkin agreed the Reds must make the next move.

        “The ball's in their court,” Goldschmidt said.

        Though the stalled talks sparked a renewed trade rumor involving a Larkin deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a Dodgers source dismissed that as unlikely. Already saddled with an $88 million payroll, the majors' second-highest, the Dodgers would not want to add Larkin's salary even if they parted with a starting pitcher such as Chan Ho Park ($3.85 million) or Darren Dreifort ($3.7 million), as the rumor claimed.

        The Dodgers are believed to be gearing up to try to sign Rodriguez, a shortstop, when he makes his anticipated entry into free agency after this season.

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