Larkin, of course, won the job. Lopez still got a chance but failed so miserably that he was sent to Triple-A Louisville and never returned.

When spring training opens this year, Lopez will be well under the radar. That's by design.

Lopez's season at Louisville ended on July 25 with a horrendous ankle injury.

"We all know that it was a very serious injury," general manager Dan O'Brien said. "He wasn't expected to be ready until late in spring training. But all reports are he's ahead of schedule. He should be ready for the start or very near the start of spring."

But O'Brien wants Lopez to be concerned with making sure his ankle, which was dislocated in a collision at home, is OK.

"We're not going to put any expectations on him," O'Brien said. "We won't make any plans for him until we observe how he responds to baseball activity."

Lopez could play his way into the Reds' plans. He is only 23. The Reds thought enough of Lopez to give up Elmer Dessens, arguably their best pitcher in 2002, for him.

Lopez hit .213 with five home runs and 13 RBI in 59 games last year. But he showed flashes of the talent that made him a first round draft choice in 1998.

When starting at shortstop after Larkin was hurt, Lopez hit .255. But Lopez seemed to lose all confidence at the plate when his playing time became less consistent.

Ray Olmedo passed Lopez on the depth chart in that period. But who will be Larkin's long-term replacement is still up in the air.

Lopez could play his way into the picture this year.

"That's certainly a possibility," O'Brien said. "But it's not fair to him to make any judgments on him early in the spring."

PITCHING COUNT: The Reds have adopted a strict pitch-count system for their minor leagues at the Single-A level and below.

Starters will be limited to 75 pitches. To make it work, the lower level clubs will use eight-man rotations. Two starters will work every game. They'll alternate starting and relieving.

"There's two reasons for it," O'Brien said. "We're trying to increase the internal productivity as far as pitching. Secondly, we want to address the unusually high number of injuries we've had with our young pitchers."

By alternating starting and relieving, the Reds will also get an idea of which role a player is better suited for.

Tim Naehring, the club's director of player development, sees another benefit of the system.

"In high school and college pitchers pitch away from contact because of the aluminum bat," he said. "This will force them to throw strikes or they're only going to be in there three or four innings."

The pitch count will be raised to 100 in Double-A and 110 in Triple-A.

FEARLESS PREDICTION: The signings of John Vander Wal, Reggie Taylor and Mike Matthews will have a major effect on the final makeup of the 25-man roster.

Here's my best guess a month before spring training starts:

Pitchers (11): Starters - Paul Wilson, Jimmy Haynes, Cory Lidle, Jose Acevedo and Aaron Harang. Relievers - Danny Graves, Chris Reitsma, John Riedling, Ryan Wagner, Phillip Norton and Matthews.

Catchers (2): Jason LaRue, Corky Miller.

Infielders (7): Sean Casey, D'Angelo Jimenez, Barry Larkin, Brandon Larson, Juan Castro, Ryan Freel, Ray Olmedo.

Outfielders (5): Austin Kearns, Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Vander Wal and Taylor.

That means no Wily Mo Pena. The Reds have to figure something out there. They can't allow him to waste away another year.

The good battles will be backup catcher, where Javier Valentin could very well win that spot, and a couple of spots on the pitching staff, where Brandon Claussen and Brian Reith could earn jobs.

CAMP MILEY: O'Brien, Dave Miley and his staff and the top minor league people were all in Sarasota last week.

Because the club brought in three new coaches - Chris Chambliss, Jerry Narron and Randy Whisler - the Reds wanted to review the players with the staff.

They've also worked on the spring training schedule. Under Boone the Reds had a schedule but it wasn't always followed.

O'Brien says that won't be the case. "Everything will be structured," he said. "It will be very specific day-by-day from early work to individual work."

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