Friday, May 03, 2002
Setup role would suit Shaw fine
Former closer, Reds trying to work deal
By Gary Estwick, gestwick@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jeff Shaw knows the Reds already have a closer in Danny Graves. So the two-time All-Star says he would go back to a setup role for the first time since 1996 if the Reds sign him.
“The last thing I want to do is cause turmoil on the team,” Shaw, 35, said Thursday. “They have Danny there right now, and he's pitching well.”
The Reds and Shaw's agent, Joe Bick, have resumed discussions about Shaw returning to the Reds, who traded him to Los Angeles during the 1998 All-Star break. Bick spoke Sunday to Reds general manager Jim Bowden, and they agreed to meet next week.
“They were interested in signing Jeff for the remainder of the current season and next year also,” Bick said Thursday.
Bowden declined comment.
Shaw has been out of baseball since the Dodgers decided not to exercise his $7.05 million option for 2002, even though he saved 43 games last season. At least a half-dozen teams have contacted Shaw since then, but Cincinnati is the only team that interests him because he can commute from his home in Washington Court House.
Shaw was willing to sign for below market value but not as low as the Reds were willing to offer with their $45 million total payroll. In December, Bick proposed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million in salary and $4.5 million in deferred payments, or a two-year, $12 million deal that also was heavy in deferred payments.
After talks broke down, Shaw, a right-hander, said he came close to signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shaw said the Pirates initially accepted one of the proposals he had made to the Reds but then decided against it.
The Reds' last offer, in February, was $300,000 for 2002 and $3 million in 2003. Shaw turned that down, Bick's undisclosed counter-offer was rejected, and negotiations again were off.
How low would Shaw be willing to go now?
“I'd have to cross that bridge when I get there,” Shaw said. “I'd have to see what the numbers are and the length of the contract.”
Shaw became a premier setup man for the Reds when Jeff Brantley was the closer in the mid-1990s, then took over Brantley's role in 1997. From 1997 through 2001, Shaw saved 194 games.
After Shaw was traded to the Dodgers, Graves eventually took over as the closer. This season, the Reds bullpen has been a major factor in the team's fast start. Graves had 10 saves entering Thursday night's game against the Dodgers.
Graves' name was mentioned in a recent trade rumor, but Bowden said that rumor was false. Before the season, the Reds talked about moving Graves to the rotation, but their inability to sign Shaw helped stop that.
Shaw still hopes a deal can be worked out — even though his wife, Julie, threw him a retirement party last month.
“I don't think he's sitting around at home, thinking about it every minute of every day,” Bick said. “But there's no question, he'd like to see this happen.
“We hoped all winter long it would happen. And it didn't. Has it consumed him? No. He's got too many things going on.”
Shaw is playing full-time dad to his three children in Washington Court House. He throws three times a week with his son Travis' Little League team but also has been running and lifting weights.
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Setup role would suit Shaw fine
