Barry Larkin says his shoulder is OK, his knee is OK, and he is OK with the path the Reds have taken in the offseason.

        “I've got all my strength back,” Larkin said Thursday from his home in Orlando, Fla. “I just tweaked it (the shoulder) a little. It won't slow me at all. In fact, I plan to be a little faster this year.”

        As for the Reds, he said: “We can be competitive. It'll be a challenge, but we have a chance to win.”

        Larkin injured his shoulder two weeks ago while working out. His left knee, which was surgically repaired late last season, also is in good shape.

        While Larkin was in Florida rehabbing, the Reds were busy reshaping their roster.

        The Reds traded Steve Parris, Ron Villone, Chris Stynes and Eddie Taubensee in cost-cutting moves. The Reds' payroll for next season reportedly will be in the $40 million range — down from a year ago — amid the huge inflation elsewhere.

        “I have a little bit of an understanding of what's going on,” Larkin said. “I know the situation the club is in.”

        Larkin believes the Reds can compete, despite the payroll.

        “I know a lot of people don't expect us to be good,” he said. “But I've talked to Alex Ochoa and Sean Casey in the last couple of days. The players don't believe that. It's like when Denny Neagle got traded, Elmer Dessens stepped in.

        “We don't feel like we're behind the eight ball.”

        Larkin, at 36, is one of four players on the 40-man roster over 30 years old. But he has no quarrel with the youth movement.

        “We've got a lot of young players,” he said. “So eventually we're going to be very good. I think we're competitive right now.”

        If Larkin sounds like someone who has no regrets about re-signing with the Reds, it's because he is. He signed a three-year, $27.9 million contract extension in July.

        “Cincinnati is really where I wanted to stay,” he said. “I have no regrets. I can't imagine myself in another uniform.”

Larkin: Reds can compete

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