By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

18 Larkin photos

In the end, it was about the injuries. When the Reds were deciding what to do about 18-year shortstop Barry Larkin, his medical history played a key role in formulating an offer.

"One of our problems this year has been the number of players on the disabled list," Reds chief operating officer John Allen said Monday. "Barry has been on the DL three times himself."

That's why the Reds were willing to offer Larkin a base salary of only $500,000. He would have been able to earn $500,000 more in incentives for plate appearances and games played.

Larkin rejected the Reds' offer first Saturday, then again Monday after a face-to-face meeting with Allen. Larkin also spoke to chief executive officer Carl Lindner on Monday. The offer wasn't going to change.

"I was told that in business, if you don't produce, you get taken off the shelf," Larkin said, refusing to specify who said that. "They said some pretty matter-of-fact things today that I won't repeat. I'm just very disappointed."

Larkin said he thinks he can be a productive player and plans to play next year. He saw a hand specialist Monday. And though he expects to be 100 percent healthy for next season, he was advised not to play anymore this season.

Larkin acknowledged that $500,000 is a lot of money (the major-league minimum is $300,000). But, he said, it was presented as a take-it-or-leave-it offer. He would not say what he thought a fair offer would have been.

"The reason that the amount of money that they offered me was unacceptable is because of the principle," Larkin said. "I was surely not looking to break the bank. But there are other players out there that have been loyal to franchises and that have done some things in their careers that I think (were) respected by the franchises. This contract shows me the door, basically."

Larkin said he wanted to finish his career in Cincinnati.

"I think one of the things that bothers me most is the fact that a guy who's not from Cincinnati appears to be empowered to make this decision," he said. "I talked to Carl a couple of days ago to see where his head was, and he told me to call John."

Allen said the Reds had internal discussions about Larkin's future before the All-Star break when Jim Bowden was still general manager.

Larkin made it clear that he wanted to play one more season. Then he hoped to work in the front office.

Click to view Acrobat PDF file (496k) showing statistics and milestones from Barry's career with the Reds. | ZOOM |

"I think John wants to run things," Larkin said. "I don't truly believe that he felt there was a (power) struggle between him and me, because I'm only a baseball player. But I did have aspirations of ... playing one more year in Cincinnati, then going up in the front office and helping the organization - because we definitely need help."

The choice to offer Larkin a contract set at a maximum of $1 million was clearly a baseball decision.

Allen usually deferred such decisions to the general manager, but the Reds have been without one since Bowden was fired July 28.

Allen said he did not consider waiting until a GM was hired, and added Larkin eventually could return to the team in some capacity.

The Reds finish their regular season Sunday at Great American Ball Park. They offered to hold an appreciation day for Larkin, but he declined.

"If I were retiring, I would absolutely enjoy it," he said of a Barry Larkin Day. "I'm not retiring. I think the fans in Cincinnati deserve it. And I would love to give it to them, and one day I will - if they want to give it to me."

Since Larkin signed a three-year, $27 million contract extension in July 2000, he has been on the disabled list four times and has dealt with other nagging injuries. He averaged only 86 games a year in that span.

In those three years, Larkin has a total of nine home runs, 82 RBI and 18 stolen bases. In his MVP year of 1995, he hit 17 home runs, drove in 66 runs and stole 51 bases.

Larkin's departure means the Reds will have a new everyday shortstop for the first time since he took over for Dave Concepcion in 1987. Concepcion had held the spot from 1972 until Larkin replaced him.

His permanent replacement will be one of the most important calls the new general manager makes.

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Michael Perry contributed to this report. E-mail jfay@enquirer.com