Casey will hear arbitration case

Anybody who has read Peter Gent's brilliant “North Dallas Forty” knows the novel's central line: “Every time I try and call it a business, you say it's a game, and every time I say it should be a game, you call it a business.” Come Wednesday, that thought might be ricocheting through Sean Casey's mind like a line-drive foul in the dugout.

The Reds first baseman will take a step away from his baseball innocence that day when he experiences his first salary arbitration hearing. An independent arbitrator in Phoenix will hear testimony from Reds officials and from Casey's representatives before deciding whether the 26-year-old will receive the club's offer for a one-year contract ($2.6 million) or his own bid ($3 million).

Casey said recently he plans to attend his hearing, which means he'll have the privilege of hearing Reds representatives criticize his performance.

They won't cite his .312 career batting average, his No.4 ranking among National League first basemen (on the Elias Sports Bureau's statistical charts from 1999-2000) or his good reputation among Cincinnati fans. Instead, they'll dwell on the fact he's not a prodigious home run hitter, has never amassed 100 RBI in a season and contributes nothing as a baserunner. That's the way arbitration hearings are.

Casey maintained the time-honored belief a man must stand up for himself.

“I never heard of a player who didn't show up who had a chance to win,” he said.

Casey knows arbitration is potentially divisive. To prevent himself from approaching the hearing with a negative attitude, he has tried to distance himself from negotiations between his agent, Ron Shapiro, and the Reds.

“You understand that it's part of the process,” Casey said. “... I talk to my agent here and there whenever I have to, to see how things are going.”

Given the relatively small difference between the club's bid and Casey's, a compromise before the hearing is possible. Reds general manager Jim Bowden won't answer questions about specific arbitration cases, and Casey insisted he knew nothing about the status of contract talks.

“The more you play,” Casey said, “that stuff kind of falls into place.”

But not without some aggravation, as he's likely to discover.

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