By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FREE?

Baseball free agents The 153 players who have filed for free agency: AMERICAN LEAGUE ANAHEIM (3) - Dennis Cook, rhp; Alex Ochoa, of; Orlando Palmeiro, of. BALTIMORE (1) - Mike Bordick, ss. BOSTON (10) - Shane Andrews, 1b; Carlos Baerga, dh; Willie Banks, rhp; Frank Castillo, rhp; Tony Clark, 1b; Cliff Floyd, of; Rickey Henderson, of; Dustin Hermanson, rhp; Rey Sanchez, 2b; Ugueth Urbina, rhp. CHICAGO (1) - Frank Thomas, 1b. CLEVELAND (6) - Dave Burba, rhp; Terry Mulholland, lhp; Charles Nagy, rhp; Eduardo Perez, c; Lee Stevens, 1b; Jim Thome, 1b. DETROIT (2) - Juan Acevedo, rhp; Matt Walbeck, c. KANSAS CITY (4) - Luis Alicea, 2b; Paul Byrd, rhp; Roberto Hernandez, rhp; Chuck Knoblauch, of. MINNESOTA (2) - Mike Jackson, rhp; Bob Wells, rhp. NEW YORK (8) - Alex Arias, 3b; Roger Clemens, rhp; Ron Coomer, 3b; Ramiro Mendoza, rhp; Mike Stanton, lhp; John Vander Wal, of; Robin Ventura, 3b; Chris Widger, c. OAKLAND (5) - Ray Durham, 2b; David Justice, of; John Mabry, of; Greg Myers, c; Randy Velarde, 2b. SEATTLE (8) - James Baldwin, rhp; Pat Borders, c; Norm Charlton, lhp; Jamie Moyer, lhp; Jose Offerman, 1b; John Olerud, 1b; Ruben Sierra, of; Ismael Valdes, rhp. TAMPA BAY (1) - John Flaherty, c. TEXAS (6) - Bill Haselman, c; Todd Hollandsworth, of; Ivan Rodriguez, c; Rich Rodriguez, lhp; Kenny Rogers, lhp; Rudy Seanez, rhp. TORONTO (3) - Felix Heredia, lhp; Esteban Loaiza, rhp; Steve Parris, rhp. NATIONAL LEAGUE ARIZONA (9) - Brian Anderson, lhp; Jay Bell, inf; Greg Colbrunn, inf; Chris Donnels, inf; Steve Finley, of; Mark Grace, 1b; Rick Helling, rhp; Mike Morgan, rhp; Armando Reynoso, rhp ATLANTA (11) - Darren Bragg, of; Julio Franco, 1b; Tom Glavine, lhp; Chris Hammond, lhp; Darren Holmes, rhp; Keith Lockhart, inf; Albie Lopez, rhp; Greg Maddux, rhp; Dave Martinez, of; Mike Remlinger, lhp; B.J. Surhoff, of. CHICAGO (5) - Jason Bere, rhp; Joe Girardi, c; Jon Lieber, rhp; Pat Mahomes, rhp; Fred McGriff, 1b. CINCINNATI (5) - Shawn Estes, lhp; Joey Hamilton, rhp; Jimmy Haynes, rhp; Brian Moehler, rhp; Jose Rijo, rhp. COLORADO (5) - Sandy Alomar Jr., c; Pete Harnisch, rhp; Kent Mercker, lhp; Terry Shumpert, 2b; Todd Zeile, 3b. FLORIDA (3) - Graeme Lloyd, lhp; Tim Raines, of; Julian Tavarez, rhp. HOUSTON (5) - Pedro Borbon, lhp; Tom Gordon, rhp; Mark Loretta, 3b; Dave Mlicki, rhp; Shane Reynolds, rhp. LOS ANGELES (6) - Omar Daal, lhp; Marquis Grissom, of; Dave Hansen, 1b; Tyler Houston, 3b; Jesse Orosco, lhp; Jeff Reboulet, 2b. MILWAUKEE (4) - Jorge Fabregas, c; Lenny Harris, of; Jose A. Hernandez, ss; Matt Stairs, of. MONTREAL (3) - Wil Cordero, of; Andres Galarraga, 1b; Troy O'Leary, of. NEW YORK (6) - Edgardo Alfonso, 3b; Jeff C. D'Amico, rhp; Mark Guthrie, lhp; Steve Reed, rhp; Steve Trachsel, rhp; John Valentin, ss. PHILADELPHIA (8) - Terry Adams, rhp; Ricky Bottalico, rhp; Doug Glanville, of; Dave Hollins, 1b; Robert Person, rhp; Dan Plesac, lhp; Todd Pratt, c; Mike Timlin, rhp. PITTSBURGH (5) - Mike Benjamin, 3b; Brian Boehringer, rhp; Darren Lewis, of; Keith Osik, c; Ron Villone, lhp. ST. LOUIS (7) - Andy Benes, rhp; Mike DiFelice, c; Jeff Fassero, lhp; Dave Veres, rhp; Rick White, rhp; Woody Williams, rhp; Jamey Wright, rhp. SAN DIEGO (4) - Deivi Cruz, ss; Ron Gant, of; Tom Lampkin, c; Ray Lankford, of. SAN FRANCISCO (7) - David Bell, 3b; Shawon Dunston, of; Tom Goodwin, of; Jeff Kent, 2b; Kenny Lofton, of; Bill Mueller, 3b; Reggie Sanders, of.

The Philadelphia Phillies spent last week wining, dining and wooing left-hander Tom Glavine and slugging first baseman Jim Thome.

They'll entertain third baseman David Bell today.

Tuesday is the first day teams can talk money with free agents other than their own, but the Phillies want to get a head start.

"The primary thing we try to tell them is we believe if we make the right additions in the offseason, we have a chance to win in 2003, and that we're trying to put together a ballclub with a chance to win over a long period of time," Phillies general manager Ed Wade told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Reds general manager Jim Bowden didn't return phone calls Thursday and Friday. He also declined an invitation to be a guest on the Hot Stove League radio show with Reds announcer Marty Brennaman.

The guess here is it isn't because Bowden is too busy making reservations at the Maisonette for when Glavine and right-hander Greg Maddux come to town.

Bowden is probably wise in keeping a low profile. There's nothing he can say now that's going to make Reds fans happy.

Chief operating officer John Allen did go on the Hot Stove League show, and the heat from callers was considerable.

The fans and media were once under the impression that the Reds would be acting like the Phillies are right now, that 2003 was going to be the year the Reds had the money to add some players to make them competitive.

That was then. This is now. Even though the Reds haven't set the budget, fans and media are convinced the bump in player payroll is going to be a.) a lot less than everyone expected; or b.) a whole lot less than everyone expected.

At this point, a raise of $20 million would be shocking.

Whatever it is, it's not going to be enough for the Glavines and Madduxes of the free agent world.

The Reds might not even have enough money in their budget to re-sign right-hander Jimmy Haynes, who won 15 games last season.

Allen says the Reds' budget will be set late this month. By then, the free agent market might have shaken itself out a bit.

Even the New York Yankees are looking to shed payroll. But it's unlikely the market will fall such that the Reds can sign a Jamie Moyer or a Chuck Finley.

No matter how far it drops, the best hope for competing with the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros will be if the Reds' young pitching develops quickly.

Reds fans don't want to hear that.

ROSTER MOVES: Now, for some encouraging news for Reds fans: The move to put Chris Booker on the 40-man roster means he's healthy enough to pitch.

"He was unbelievable in the Instructional League," Reds assistant general manager Brad Kullman said. "We don't want Lee Smith pitching for another team."

The Lee Smith analogy is apt because Booker is big (6-3, 230), throws hard (97 mph) and was obtained from the Chicago Cubs.

Booker, 25, struck out 101 in 68 innings in Double-A in 2001, but he hurt his shoulder as soon as spring training started last season.

Booker and others put on the roster - Josh Hall, Ray Olmedo and Steve Smitherman - are protected from being taken in the Rule 5 draft.

The Reds' roster must be set by Nov. 20. They have 38 on the 40-man.

CATCHING ON: Dane Sardinha's strong showing in the Arizona Fall League might make Jason LaRue expendable.

Sardinha's catching skills are so good that he's ready for the big leagues defensively. If the Reds are convinced he can hit, they might be willing to part with LaRue, who is arbitration-eligible.

Sardinha is hitting .293 with four homers and 22 RBI in 21 games.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com