By John Erardi
Enquirer staff writer

With the Reds separated from the top of the National League wild-card race by seven games and seven teams, Reds fans may be thinking about the rest of this season in light of next season.

One of the most intriguing riddles: how do four slugging outfielders fit into three positions? True, given the injury history of Ken Griffey Jr. and Austin Kearns, there is no such thing as an extra outfielder in a four-man rotation that includes Adam Dunn and Wily Mo Pena.

But on those rare days when all four are healthy, it's tough to have one of their bats awaiting pinch-hitting duty. Griffey, Dunn and Kearns are too good for it; Pena is too young for it.

"It's a good problem to have," said Reds shortstop Barry Larkin.

Some people in the Reds organization have advocated trying Kearns at third base in the instructional league after this season is over.

Reds general manager Dan O'Brien, however, said recently that moving Kearns to third base has never been brought up to him.

And before you take sides in the Kearns-at-third-base debate, know this: Moving him is not a no-brainer.

Among the people who know how hard that would be are former third baseman Buddy Bell, winner of six Gold Gloves, and Billy Doran, the former Houston Astros star second baseman.

They know it because they experimented with it in 1998-99. That was when Bell was the Reds' minor-league field coordinator and Doran was his assistant.

"Austin is athletic, but it would take some time," Doran said Monday. "Based on what we saw, it would take the instructional league, then spring training and then you're taking your chances during the season. It's not clear-cut. Austin is such a good right fielder, I'd be inclined to keep him there."

Doran and Bell wanted to increase Kearns' versatility, because they already felt his bat would get him to the big leagues.

"When we put him at third base in spring training (1999), Austin made progress, even though it didn't come easy for him," Doran said. "He worked hard every day and never complained. But you could see he was frustrated by (the slow pace of improvement).

"When we put him back in the outfield, you could just see him relax. He's one of the better (defensive) right fielders in the game. He's a run producer, and his overall ability is a lot closer to what he did the first half of last season than anything that's happened since."

There seems to be no hurry inside the organization to figure out the four-into-three riddle. Besides, for the brass, it's more of a five-into-four riddle, because Dunn can play first base when Sean Casey needs a rest.

Also in the equation is Double-A third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, 21, who some of the brass believe may be a Miguel Cabrera in waiting. Cabrera is the 20-year-old who came straight out of Double-A last year and helped the Florida Marlins win the World Series.

The riddle will require an answer when some other organization forces it - by offering an up-and-coming young stud pitcher for an everyday slugger in his prime, which Dunn and Kearns, each 24, and Pena, 22, have yet to enter, and probably not until then. Griffey and Casey are locked up contractually; Dunn's going to get a big raise next year; Kearns won't, because he hasn't been able to play; Pena is still a baby contractually.

"I've wondered about that," Larkin said. "That's a lot of talent you're talking about there. It would make sense that you'd want to (have a spot for everybody), but it hasn't come to that yet as a major issue because everybody isn't healthy."