Reese prepares for arbitration

Pokey Reese and Gookie Dawkins arrive at camp Tuesday.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |

SARASOTA, Fla. — With no compromise in sight, second baseman Pokey Reese is prepared to head for his salary arbitration hearing Friday in Phoenix.

“I'll get my suit out of the cleaners tomorrow,” said Reese, who arrived early to begin working out informally. Position players aren't due to camp until Sunday.

Reese isn't worried about what the Reds might say in their case against him during his hearing. The two-time Gold Glove Award winner submitted a request for a one-year, $3.6 million salary; the Reds countered with a $2.7 million bid.

“I can't wait to go, actually,” said Reese, who earned $1.95 million last year. “I want to put it behind me so I can concentrate on what I have to do down here.”

Reliever Danny Graves' arbitration hearing proceeded Tuesday in Phoenix without any last-ditch attempts at a compromise. “We haven't talked in three weeks,” said Graves' agent, Alan Nero. Graves, who earned $400,000 last season, is seeking $3.075 million; the club has offered $2.1 million.

ETC.: With pitchers and catchers due to report Tuesday, the only tardy Red was expected to be Dennys Reyes, a Mexican resident who will be one to three days late because of visa problems.

• Reds minor-league infielder Bobby Morris, who lives in Sarasota, participated in an informal workout and reported that his older brother, popular first baseman Hal Morris, has continued to sharpen his baseball skills at his home near Orlando. “I think he's getting the itch to get back and play,” Bobby Morris said of Hal, who wasn't picked up after the Detroit Tigers declined to offer him a contract. “I don't think he's done yet.”

• Boone explained that workouts will begin at 10 a.m. because the grass is still damp at 9, when players have hit the field in recent years.

• Boone threw his support behind the proposal to give the home-field edge during the World Series to the representative of the league that wins the All-Star Game: “Anytime you put something on the line to keep it as the spectacle it is. ... If you add anything to it, it's going to be great.”

• Reese's love of all sports continues unabated. Atop his locker is a South Carolina football helmet, a reminder of the Gamecocks' 24-7 Outback Bowl triumph over Ohio State. “That's for all the Ohio State fans,” said Reese, a South Carolina native.

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