Reds won't re-sign Larkin

DETROIT — Barry Larkin's illustrious 14-year tenure as the Reds' shortstop is apparently in its final days. The 11-time All-Star said Tuesday night he was told by John Allen, the Reds' chief operating officer, during a meeting Monday night that the team would not try to re-sign him.

Asked whether he could envision remaining with the Reds beyond the 2000 season, Larkin said: “John Allen told me that they are not going to sign me. So as far as I'm concerned, what that means to me is that they're not going to sign me.”

Larkin, 36, is at the end of a multiyear contract that will pay him $5.3 million this year and thus makes him eligible to become a free agent. Larkin signed that contract after his 1995 Most Valuable Player season and was immediately criticized by zealots within the players' union for accepting less than market value.

The Moeller High School graduate had hoped he could agree with the Reds on a contract extension that would allow him to finish his career in the city where he was raised.

“It's an emotional thing,” Larkin said. “But I'm a professional. You have to play the game, man. I just have to do my job and play as hard as I can to represent myself and do what I do.”

Larkin and his agent, Eric Goldschmidt, had been stuck for weeks in their negotiations with club management. Larkin was said to be seeking a three-year, $28 million deal. Cincinnati is believed to have offered a multiyear deal worth $6 million annually.

Insiders said neither side tried to compromise, fostering rumors of a trade involving Larkin before the July 31 deadline. But Larkin's tenure allows him to veto any trade. A deal might be stalled unless the club that acquires Larkin would be willing to forge a new contract with him.

Asked if a trade to any of his likely suitors — the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers or Toronto Blue Jays — would be beneficial at this point, Larkin referred to his wife, Lisa, and their three children.

“There are so many things that would go into my decision of whether to accept a trade or not. First and foremost is my family,” said Larkin, who makes his offseason home in Orlando. “It's not a rash decision. They'd have to be comfortable.”

The likelihood of Larkin's imminent departure tempered the Reds' joy in their 5-4 victory Tuesday night over the Detroit Tigers, which ended a two-game losing streak. Larkin contributed two of Cincinnati's 15 hits, lifting his batting average to .327, and recorded seven assists in a flawless defensive performance.

“It's very messed up,” left fielder Dmitri Young said. “I can't expound on that any more than to say it's messed up. A guy who dedicated his whole life to playing for one team — that's an absolute rarity now — taking less money so other people can get money, and when his time comes all of a sudden the well's run dry. He's Mr. Cincinnati. That takes away from the purity of a guy staying with one team his whole career.”

Said reliever Danny Graves: “I don't know if you could ever imagine Barry Larkin out of a Reds uniform. It's going to feel weird not to have him in the clubhouse and on the field with us.”

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