By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOENIX - There is not a hair out of place or a wrinkle in his slacks.

Sitting with legs crossed in the living room of a secluded villa at the Arizona Biltmore, Dan O'Brien is the picture of calm.

Underneath that exterior, however, is a man who has feverishly been cramming for the past three weeks.

"There is never a shortage of important issues and topics to discuss day and night," said O'Brien, hired as Cincinnati's general manager on Oct. 27.

"A large part of it, frankly, is me trying to get caught up on as much information as I can possibly consume about the Cincinnati Reds organization."

After Tuesday's general manager's meetings concluded, O'Brien took several minutes to speak about the Reds. Topics included the ongoing managerial search, free agency, trades and next season's team.

"I assume nothing," he said. "I may have had some perception on the outside looking in.

"But now that I'm a member of the organization, I'm sort of deferring that and relying heavily on the insights of the people who work here."

As it pertains to the roster itself, one deeply affected by injury and instability in a 93-loss season, O'Brien sees promise in the bullpen and outfield.

Danny Graves, whose bid as a starter last season failed, will be the team's closer.

"The area that obviously needs some assistance is the depth of our starting pitching," O'Brien said. "That's one area where we're trying to cast the net far and wide for any potential ways to upgrade our depth.

"I might add that's the most challenging task ahead of us."

Paul Wilson (8-10, 4.64 ERA) and Jimmy Haynes (2-12, 6.30) will be back after a season in which 17 different starting pitchers were used.

Who will join them in the mix might depend on the development of youngsters like Brandon Claussen and Aaron Harang (4-3, 5.28) acquired through trades last season.

It also might depend on what the Reds can acquire from a stuffed free agent market or through trades.

"The one lesson that stood out (last off-season) was the importance of, and the need for, patience in allowing the market to play itself out," O'Brien.

Tuesday was the first real day of meetings with all 30 GMs, and the Reds engaged in discussions with other teams about pitching.

"It's always been a topic of discussion," O'Brien said.

At what price would the Reds be willing to pay for a top starter is unclear. What is, however, is that no Reds player remains untouchable.

"There's a significant difference between being willing to talk with a team and being motivated to make a deal," he said. "We have some desirable athletes on our roster right now that, quite honestly, we'd like to see stay on the roster. But you just have to be open-minded."

More than $30 million of the still-to-be determined 2004 payroll is dedicated to five players: Ken Griffey Jr. ($12.5 million), Sean Casey ($6.4 million), Graves ($6 million), Wilson ($3.5 million) and Haynes ($2.5-million).

Trading one or more of those players will be tough, but would lend more flexibility in free agency.

The front office operations staff is scheduled to meet and discuss budgets for the upcoming year.

O'Brien also has asked his staff members - player development and scouting included - to submit their job descriptions to him. He will then determine what adjustments will be made.

Another ongoing matter is the managerial search.

O'Brien, who said the Reds are following Major League Baseball's hiring guidelines, has a list of approximately 20 candidates. The plan is to pare that to possibly five final candidates. Interim manager Dave Miley was told Tuesday that he will get the final interview.

"We're just (continuing) to do our homework," O'Brien said. "We continue to do research and background. We want this person to not only be skilled at the job, but to also be a person that is a good fit for Cincinnati."

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E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com