Friday, May 31, 2002
Reds call off talks with Shaw
By John Fay, jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIAMI —The Reds' courting of relief pitcher Jeff Shaw ended quietly Thursday when general manager Jim Bowden called Shaw's agent, Joe Bick, and told him the club would not sign Shaw.
“It's completely over,” Bick said.
Bowden confirmed that.
“It didn't work out,” Bowden said. “We're moving on. That's the only comment anyone's going to make.”
Asked if he felt that he had been jerked around by the Reds, Bick said: “Yes, but we're not mad at anybody. There's no doubt in my mind that Jim sincerely wanted to get the deal done. Someone else in the organization didn't.”
The deal died shortly after Bowden told Bick he was going to discuss it with chief operating officer John Allen and chief executive officer Carl Lindner.
“He wanted in excess of $7 million over two years, and that's something we couldn't find a fit for,” Allen said.
The Shaw episode would seem to indicate that the Reds won't take on any more salary this season. That could affect their ability to make trades — if they stay in the playoff race.
The Reds and Shaw, who saved 43 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, have been talking since December. The talks broke off in spring training. Bick proposed a salary of $1.5 million in 2002 with $4 million deferred over 10 years. The Reds countered months later with a deal for $300,000 this year and $3 million in 2003.
Bowden called Bick on May 3 and said he wanted to start the talks again.
Bick and Shaw met with Bowden and assistant Doc Rodgers May 13.
“They talked about looking for a creative way to get this done,” Bick said.
Two days later, Bowden suggested a structure that called for a low base this year, a fixed salary in 2003 and a mutual buyout for 2004.
Bick said he never got a proposal from the Reds. On May 20, the Reds asked Bick to propose a contract.
He did two days later. The proposed deal called for a salary of $750,000 for this season, $4.5 million for 2003 and an undetermined salary for 2004 with a $2.75 million buyout.
The thought was Shaw would start pitching July 1, so the Reds would owe him $375,000 for this year.
“We said they could pay it any way they wanted,” Bick said. “They could defer all but the minimum ($200,000).”
Bick said Shaw will stay retired. “This is the end of it for us,” he said.
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Reds call off talks with Shaw
