Barry Larkin received a standing ovation when he came to bat Sunday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        A weekend of deals, non-deals and debate ended peacefully when Barry Larkin agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Reds Sunday night.

        The agreement, forged after chief executive officer Carl Lindner entered the negotiations, came less than 24 hours after Larkin rejected a trade that would have sent him to the New York Mets.

        The All-Star shortstop agreed to a three-year, $27 million deal - only $900,000 less than he had been demanding to re-sign with the Reds.

        “This all came as a shock to me,” Larkin said. “I've been fielding questions the last three days about going to the Mets.

        “Mr. Lindner came to me and they stepped up. Everyone is very happy. Now we just want to go out and play ball and try to catch the Cardinals.”

        The extension will keep Larkin, 36, with the Reds through the 2003 season. A little less than one-third of the $27 million will be deferred over 15 years, according to a source familiar with the contract. Larkin, who makes $5.3 million this season, will get $6 million next year.

Fans brought banners over the weekend to show their support for Larkin. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        The Reds will explore a creative way to pay for it: A midseason hike in ticket prices.

        “We might do something no one has ever done in baseball before,” chief operating officer John Allen said. “We might raise ticket prices this year. We will definitely raise them for next year.”

        The announcement that a deal had been struck came at 9 p.m. Four hours earlier, neither Larkin nor Reds general manager Jim Bowden was optimistic about Larkin's status with the team.

        According to Bowden, Larkin and his agent had made it clear they would not accept less than $27.9 million for three years. It's believed the Reds had countered with a three-year, $18 million offer.

Ken Griffey Jr., clowning around with Larkin, went to bat to keep his friend on the team. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Things had gotten contentious between the two sides. The Reds had worked out a trade that would have sent Larkin to New York for top prospect Alex Escobar and two minor-league pitchers. But Larkin rejected the deal because the Mets weren't offering a contract extension.

        His decision to stay drew a 30-second standing ovation from 34,822 fans at Cinergy Field on Sunday. It also became a prelude to the club's strangest day since Lindner took control of the team from Marge Schott last September.

        When Bowden called him aside after the game, he thought he'd been traded to a different team.

        “I thought OK, if not New York, then where?” Larkin said. “I thought I was going to be talking to Jim about going to another big market club that needed a shortstop. This all happened very fast. I'm very appreciative of it.”

        Ken Griffey Jr., who blocked a trade from Seattle to the Mets last December, had offered to defer even more of his $116.5 million deal to help keep Larkin in Cincinnati. Allen said the club didn't take him up on the offer.

        Griffey, who had lobbied for the Reds to keep Larkin, showed up for the news conference and gave him a hug.

        “I'm really excited,” Griffey said. “This is one of the reasons I came over here, to play with this guy. Since spring training, it's been great. Now I get to do it for the next three years.”

        The tentative trade with the Mets had led to bruised feelings between Larkin and the front office. Larkin suggested Bowden had misled the Mets.

        Larkin said that Bowden failed to tell the Mets in advance about his conditions for approving the trade. Larkin wanted a multiyear extension, but the Mets were only interested in him as a stopgap for with shortstop Rey Ordonez sidelined by a broken arm this season.

        “All the parties knew that — at least, that's what we told Jim,” Larkin said. “But he obviously didn't relay that to the Mets. I guess they didn't realize what was going on with this entire thing.”

        Phillips confirmed that the Mets agreed to talk to Larkin on the assumption he would accept a trade for this season only.

        “I called Jim (on Friday) and said, "Where is Barry on this?”' Phillips said. “Jim told me, 'Oh, don't worry, he'll accept the deal.' Jim said he might be talking a little bit, but he was convinced he would want to get out of the negativity in Cincinnati.

        “It seems there was a misunderstanding. From my discussions with Eric and Jim, they were not on the same page with what was going to happen with his contract.”

        Bowden said he didn't tell the Mets about Larkin's contract conditions because he didn't learn about them until Thursday, after New York agreed to the tentative deal.

        “That's correct because we were not told until after the deal was consummated,” Bowden said.

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