In one more twist to an ugly season, the Cincinnati Reds are cutting ties with their team captain.
Shortstop Barry Larkin rejected a one-year contract offer on Monday, leaving one of Cincinnati's most revered players to finish his career somewhere else.
Larkin, 39, has spent all 18 major league seasons with his hometown team, and hoped to return as a backup infielder next year before retiring and moving into the front office.
When chief operating officer John Allen made a take-it-or-leave-it offer of US$500,000 for next season, Larkin concluded the club didn't want him around anymore.
"I think John Allen's running things, and he's running me out of town," Larkin said Monday night.
Larkin is associated with the Reds more than any other current player. His 18 seasons with Cincinnati are the most any current major leaguer has spent with one team.
Larkin helped the Reds win a World Series in 1990, was voted the National League Most Valuable Player in 1995 and was a steadying influence in the clubhouse during former owner Marge Schott's suspensions in the 1990s.
Former general manager Jim Bowden tried to trade him to the New York Mets for prospects during the 2000 season, but Larkin blocked the trade. Allen told the shortstop that the club wouldn't resign him at the end of that season.
Owner Carl Lindner was so moved by the reception Larkin got from fans at the time that he gave Larkin a US$27 million, three-year deal. The shortstop was willing to take much less to return for 2004, but concluded he wasn't wanted.
Allen offered a one-year deal with a US$500,000 base salary and incentive bonuses that could have added another US$500,000. Larkin said the club wasn't willing to negotiate.
"The reason the amount of money they offered me was unacceptable was because of the principle," Larkin said. "I was surely not looking to break the bank. This contract showed me the door, basically."
Allen said the club won't increase its offer to try to keep Larkin, who grew up in Cincinnati and was the Reds' first-round draft pick in the 1985 amateur draft.
"It's tough to say goodbye to Barry Larkin," Allen said. "It's really hard. He's meant a lot to this organization."
The Reds were hoping to begin a renaissance when they moved into Great American Ball Park this season, but have instead reached a low point in franchise history.
Bowden and manager Bob Boone were fired in July, when the club started a series of payroll-slashing trades that dealt away top players. With no general manager to make decisions, Larkin's fate became an issue.
Larkin has been limited by injuries for the past three years, and acknowledged that he can no longer be an everyday player. He's on the disabled list for the third time this season with a finger injury.
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