There won’t be any return to Flushing for Rick Reed. The veteran right-hander passed up the Mets’ offer yesterday, signing instead with Pittsburgh.
Reed’s agent, Phil Tannenbaum, said Reed’s first choice was the Mets. But Tannenbaum was upset with the way the Mets and GM Jim Duquette handled the negotiations, calling them “extremely unprofessional” while raving about Pirates GM Dave Littlefield’s involvement in brokering a deal.
Strangely, Tannenbaum was dismayed that Duquette did not handle the negotiations personally, insisting that he faxed Reed’s Met interest to Duquette in November and followed up with a series of phone calls. Duquette, though, had Craig Marino, currently his interim assistant, return the calls.
“I just felt like if the Mets were interested or had some sincerity in Rick, the call should have really come from Jim Duquette,” Tannenbaum said. “Mr. Duquette must be awfully busy or I guess he doesn’t have a cell phone.”
Tannenbaum wasn’t finished with what sounded almost like a sour-grapes rant, adding, “I’m only sorry I didn’t call Mr. [Fred] Wilpon or Jeff [Wilpon] because they would have called me back in a heartbeat” and promising, “I can assure you this will definitely be reflected in the [Mets’] win-loss column this year.”
In truth, it is not uncommon for GMs to sometimes have other front office members handle phone calls or negotiations. It’s also hard to fault the Mets for not dropping everything to pursue Reed, who is 38 and coming off a season in which he went 6-12 with a 5.08 ERA.
Upon hearing Tannenbaum’s remarks, Duquette elected to take the high road.
“I’m sorry that Phil’s ego was bruised that I didn’t return his call but there was no intention of slighting Rick Reed,” the GM said. “We made a very sincere offer with the intent of having him come back if he made our club. There was no certainty that he was going to make our club. My understanding was that he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates because it was within four hours’ drive of his home. We wish him luck.”
Duquette then added, “I guess Phil’s still upset that we didn’t sign Lance Johnson to be our number-one option in center field,” a reference to the fact that the Mets passed up the journeyman outfielder, one of Tannenbaum’s clients, in a past offseason.
The Mets are still waiting to hear back from Shane Spencer’s reps on their offer to the free-agent right fielder.
KARSAY TOSSES AGAINYankees reliever Steve Karsay reported no problems yesterday after his fourth bullpen session in the past two weeks.
Karsay threw 30 fastballs at the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa. He did not pitch last season because of a shoulder injury that required surgery in May.
“We’re increasing the intensity each time,” he said. “We’ll start throwing breaking balls in two weeks.”
Karsay will increase his mound sessions to 35 pitches next week. It’s not clear whether he will be ready for opening day.
* Derek Jeter also is taking part in early workouts at the Yankees’ facility in Florida . . . Former Yankee IF Homer Bush, who retired last spring when he was in spring training with San Diego, agreed to a minor-league contract with the Bombers.with AP reports