SARASOTA, Fla. — Jim Bowden is in his 10th year as the Reds' general manager. Bowden, who was baseball's youngest GM when he was named Oct.16, 1992, will turn 41 on May 18. He is coming off his toughest year.

        The Reds finished 66-96 and in fifth place in the National League Central. They hadn't lost more than 90 games since 1984; they hadn't finished fifth since 1993 — Bowden's first year in charge.

        After the 1993 season, Bowden retooled the club, trading for Bret Boone and Eddie Taubensee and signing free agents Tony Fernandez, Jeff Brantley and Lenny Harris.

        The new-look Reds finished first in 1994 and '95.

        But, under ownership's current economic restraints, Bowden had a relatively quiet offseason. He traded Dmitri Young and Pokey Reese to cut the payroll, getting mostly prospects in exchange. And even the cheapest free agents were out of the Reds' price range.

        The lack of offseason improvement means the Reds go into spring training, which opens Saturday, with almost no expectations. What does the man in charge think? Enquirer reporter John Fay asked him in a question-and-answer session Thursday.

        Question: How do you feel going into this season?

        Answer: We're very pleased with some of the things that happened last year — the development of our young players. The experience they've had should help. We've got a lot of young players in our farm system that are going to get a look in the spring. That's something we haven't had in a while. We're going to get to see some arms that were hurt last year. Scott Williamson, Seth Etherton. We got some young pitchers like (Ty) Howington and (Ricardo) Aramboles, (Luis) Pineda. So, we've got a lot of young players we're going to get a look at in spring training. That could be positive.

        We've got another group of guys which are the young guys that are now at the stage in their careers where they should have breakout years and be able to put it all together. Players like Sean Casey, Aaron Boone, Juan Encarnacion.

        We've got a lot of good, young, exciting talent here. How we do, it's too early to tell. A lot depends on the young arms. We need obviously Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin to bounce back and play up to their potential and stay healthy.

        Q: What can Adam Dunn and Griffey do this year? We saw a glimpse last year.

        A: We all know their potential is off the charts. Whether that potential means they can hit 50 to 60 (home runs) a year ... I remember Mark McGwire hit a lot his first year, and then his next year was down. In the case of Adam Dunn, I don't think any of us knows for sure whether he hits 20, 30, 40 or 50. But he certainly has the potential. When Junior is healthy and plays a full year, we all know what he can do ... because it's well-documented for many, many years.

        Q: This team doesn't have a lot speed, at least as far as base stealing. Does that concern you?

        A: I think if we were playing on AstroTurf that would be more of a concern. When you're on turf, you have to have (speed). Although we don't have the speedsters at the top you'd like in an ideal situation and there's not a lot in the industry, what we do have a is a lot of guys who go first to third and score first to home. We had a few years in row where we didn't have that. We had station-to-station guys, so although we're not a blazing team we're not a slow team.

        Q: Does (Austin) Kearns make the team?

        A: I can't say. I think as an organization we're projecting Austin Kearns to play every day in Triple-A in right field and we're projecting Wily Mo Pena to play every day in Double-A. That being said, if either one of them can come into spring training and beat out Juan Encarnacion or Ruben Mateo, so be it. We're going to let them do it. We're projecting Ben Broussard to start at first base in Triple-A and Gookie Dawkins to start at shortstop in Triple-A. But, you know what, if they come to spring training and can beat out what we've got, so be it. We're prepared, like we did with Adam Dunn last year, to let these young players beat their schedule. If they prove on the field that they're ready now, we will not hold them back.

        Q: Will Bob Boone be the manager for the whole year?

        A: Bob Boone's the manager. That's not an issue. I think he's done a good job. He's got the respect of the players. The players believe in him. He's very good with young players.

        Q: Name one player who might surprise people?

        A: The right fielder. Whoever that shall be. And the starting pitcher. Whoever that shall be. Those will be the two biggest surprises.

        Q: Bottom line, can this team win?

        A: A lot has to go right. We have to stay healthy. The starting eight has to go out and play 150 games together. The young pitching has to develop. Then you can have a year like we had in 1999. Where, all of a sudden, we all put it together and the team wins 96 games. One thing that's great about baseball is it's not a computer game, it's not a fantasy game; it's real human beings. You don't know when human beings are going to put it together.

Bowden optimistic - as long as things go right Tigers give Dmitri Young 4-year, $28.5 M deal

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