By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reds will not discuss their player payroll number for the 2004 season. But a couple of recent moves point to it being in the $46 million to $47.5 million range.

With 74 shopping days left before Opening Day and plenty of players still looking for jobs, things could change.

Just don't expect one of the premier free agents, Greg Maddux, to be the Reds' starter April 5.

General manager Dan O'Brien said he would consider going to chief operating officer John Allen to see if payroll could be added for the right player.

"Sure," O'Brien said. "John Allen has been very open-minded with all the recommendations and suggestions we've made. But ultimately, the decisions rest in the baseball ops."

Has baseball operations considered Maddux, a free agent out of Atlanta?

"We've discussed it theoretically," O'Brien said. "We've looked at what it would do with the overall team."

Maddux greatly would improve the Reds for 2004. But he is 37 years old and is looking for a multiyear contract. He reportedly turned down a two-year, $14 million offer from the Chicago Cubs.

Maddux has 289 wins and a career 2.89 ERA. But his numbers slipped last year when he was 16-11 with a very good offensive team.

"Greg Maddux is potentially a Hall of Famer," O'Brien said. "But my suspicion is, at his age and what he's looking for in terms of length of contract, it's not consistent with our focus in trying to develop talent."

The Reds are in a critical stage with their young pitchers. They'll probably start this season with three veterans - Paul Wilson, Cory Lidle and Jimmy Haynes - in the rotation, but none is under contract for 2005.

"The most difficult thing in this game is to stay patient," O'Brien said. "Inevitably, players are going to have a period where they struggle. It might be a month, it might be a year, it might be multi years. But very few walk on the field and are immediately successful.

"There are no shortcuts."