By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reds reduced their arbitration list by two-thirds Thursday - the day before numbers are to be exchanged - by signing infielder Aaron Boone, catcher Jason LaRue, and pitchers Ryan Dempster and Scott Williamson.

Pitchers Danny Graves and Bruce Chen are the only two remaining arbitration-eligible players who haven't signed.

"It's our philosophy that we're willing to go to arbitration," Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. "But we'd rather settle. We've been negotiating. We got close in the last week. We were able to settle the day before we exchanged numbers."

Boone signed for $3.7 million, up from $2.1 million last year. Dempster went from $2.475 million to $3.25 million. Williamson signed for $1.6 million and can earn up to $400,000 in incentives. Last year, he made a base of $400,000 and $200,000 in incentives (he reached them all). LaRue signed for $1.25 million, up from $305,000 last year.

That adds up to at least $4.52 million in raises for the four players. That sounds like a lot of money - well, it is a lot of money - but it is standard in baseball for arbitration-eligible players to get huge raises.

"I don't think any of them were surprises - high or low," Bowden said. "That's about what we projected."

That means the Reds' payroll still projects slightly more than the $60 million the club has budgeted for the upcoming season.

The Reds continue to try to reach deals with Graves and Chen.

"We've had more negotiations with Danny Graves' agents over the last two weeks than any Red," Bowden said. "I told them they can call me until 4 in the morning. We'll see what develops."

Arbitration hearings will be from Feb.1-15. The sides can settle until the hearing.

The Reds didn't go to arbitration with anyone last year because Williamson settled two days before his hearing was scheduled.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com