HOUSTON — Shortstop Barry Larkin elaborated Wednesday on his spurned contract hopes, declaring that he's willing to accept deferred payments to forge a deal with the Reds while insisting that his demand for more than $9 million a year is “actually below fair market value.”

        Larkin cordially said the statement chief operating officer John Allen issued earlier Wednesday about their meeting Monday in Detroit was “basically true.” That night, Allen told Larkin that club management wanted him to stay in Cincinnati for the rest of his career but would not sign him to the three-year, $27.9 million extension he sought.

        “I don't want to get into a war of words,” Larkin said before the Reds opened a two-game series against the Houston Astros. “All I'm asking for from Cincinnati is to be paid actually below fair market value. That's simply it. They informed me that they can't do that. ...

        “I asked John about deferring money; that was not an issue, because they said we're too far apart. I've been willing to defer money, just like (Ken Griffey) Junior has, but I was told it's not an issue because it's not even in the ballpark.”

        Fair market value for Larkin is difficult to determine, mainly because few, if any, comparable players exist. He's an 11-time All-Star and a potential Hall of Famer. He's also 36, an age at which

        most players begin to decline. But Larkin entered is hitting .329 — 66 points higher than Houston second baseman Craig Biggio, one of the handful of players with similar credentials. Biggio signed a three-year, $28 million extension last offseason, paralleling the package Larkin wants.

        By any measure, Larkin is worth significantly more than the $5.3 million he's earning in the final season of a multiyear extension he received after winning the 1995 National League Most Valuable Player award.

        That average annual figure was instantly seized upon as being low.

        But, said Larkin: “I'm not looking for (the Reds) to take care of me for signing for less money when I signed my contracts in the past. I got a lot of grief from a lot of guys around the league and a lot of agents about signing for under value. I'm not trying to recoup that now. It's just that I'm asking for fair market value. I'm not asking for anybody to bend over backward or do me any favors.”

        Allen's statement was meant to clarify the club's position and stress to fans that the team wasn't completely shutting its doors to Larkin. But Larkin, for all his politeness, didn't waver: “The COO of the team told me they were not going to sign me. So I'm looking at it as, hey, they're not going to sign me. I just have to deal with that.”

        Trading Larkin before the July 31 non-waiver deadline is an obvious option. But numerous barriers exist:

        • Larkin's major-league tenure allows him to veto any trade.

        • Allen's announcement essentially publicized the impasse between Larkin and the Reds, virtually assuring that any package of players another team offers for the Cincinnati captain will be undervalued.

        • Despite Larkin's excellence, relatively few teams need him. Moreover, nothing appears imminent.

        “If (general manager Jim Bowden's) working on anything, he's going to need my approval, and I have not yet talked to him,” Larkin said “I find that kind of odd. We're running out of time, as far as if they want to trade me and get anything for me at this particular point in the year.”

        The New York Mets appear to be the leading suitor for Larkin's services. The $16 million they owe injured Gold Glove winner Rey Ordonez between 2001-03 complicates the issue. Then again, the pressure to win in New York could force a move. So could East rival Atlanta's possible acquisition of Luis Alicea to replace injured second baseman Quilvio Veras.

        “All the brass over there is in agreement (about pursuing Larkin),” said a baseball source familiar with Mets management.

        The Los Angeles Dodgers could use Larkin but not if they remain on the fringes of postseason contention, like the Reds. Dodgers GM Kevin Malone is on record as saying his current roster must perform to its capability and doesn't need upgrading. The Toronto Blue Jays, a long-shot possibility, expect to regain their regular shortstop, Alex Gonzalez, by this weekend. Gonzalez has been on the disabled list with a groin injury. Pitching has been a more pressing need for the Jays, as they proved Wednesday by acquiring Esteban Loaiza from Texas.

        Free agency will be in Larkin's future if a trade isn't made and a compromise isn't reached. But with Seattle's Alex Rodriguez expected to be the most sought-after shortstop on the open market, and with numerous other standouts possibly becoming available (Mike Mussina, Ivan Rodriguez, Denny Neagle), Larkin runs the risk of blending into a group.

        How Larkin might feel at that point is anybody's guess. But he certainly doesn't feel great right now.

        “I told John this, as well: I said, yeah, it's a business thing, but it's personal,” he said. “I've been there for 13, 14 years now. So it's definitely personal. ... The underlying message is, hey, we can't afford to or we won't ... do it. So we are where we are.”

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