NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Orioles continued to concentrate on signing free-agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez yesterday, discussing the length of a potential contract with agent Jeff Moorad without making an offer.
Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie shot down a fast-spreading rumor that the club offered Rodriguez a three-year, $36 million contract.
"We have not made any offer," Beattie said. "We both agreed that we'll continue to talk."
Beattie said the discussions could last through the winter meetings and into next week. Now that the Cincinnati Reds have mended fences with Ken Griffey, pulling him off the trade market, Rodriguez is clearly the Orioles' top priority.
Moorad met with the Chicago Cubs last night, and a Cubs official said they also talked in general terms without making an offer. Moorad said he did receive an offer for Rodriguez from another National League club earlier yesterday afternoon, but he declined to identify the team or specify the terms.
"I'm guessing," Moorad said, "that in the end, Ivan will make an informed choice about his next organization from a pool of five or six interested teams."
Rodriguez, 31, has spent his entire career with the Texas Rangers. A 10-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, Rodriguez hit .314 this past season with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs, despite missing two months with a back injury.
"We talked about the positives of playing in Baltimore," Beattie said. "Obviously, training in Fort Lauderdale and playing in the American League."
Beattie and Orioles manager Mike Hargrove both said if they signed Rodriguez, he would likely catch 100 to 110 games and spend time as a designated hitter with the hope of saving him some wear and tear.
Rodriguez, however, is not fond of leaving his catching gear in the dugout. During the past two seasons, he has caught in 206 of the 219 games he has played.
"His first choice is to catch as much as he possibly can," Moorad said. "And regardless of which team he's with in the end, he'll always do what's best for the organization."
Beattie said Moorad made it known that Rodriguez doesn't want to go somewhere and become a team's hired gun for one or two years. So a contract would probably stretch three years, and the Orioles sound open to a longer deal that would be based on Rodriguez's performance.
This past season, Rodriguez hit .291 before the All-Star break but came on late, batting .350 in August and .361 in September.
The Orioles also talked about adding bonus incentives for Rodriguez that would reward him for making the All-Star team, winning a Gold Glove or being named MVP, as he was in 1999.
"This may be the last contract for him," Beattie said, "and he wants to be able to feel comfortable in the town where he goes."
By not making an offer yesterday, the Orioles and Cubs continued to wait for the market to define itself. The Cubs already have catchers Damian Miller and Paul Bako on their roster, but they insist they are interested in adding Rodriguez.
The Orioles' interest stretches back years.
"Ivan and his wife, Maribel, were both excited about the possibility of the Orioles," Moorad said.
"Baltimore's a real important team for us to consider. There's a familiarity with the American League that comes into play, and the Orioles have been consistent in their interest, which has been important to Ivan.
"At this point, we'll determine how serious they are."
If the Orioles are couching their enthusiasm, it's only because they hope to keep the price low enough to sign another impact player. Besides Moorad, they also met yesterday with Peter Greenberg, the agent for free-agent third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo.
"If we sign [Rodriguez] for what we would like to sign him for, that doesn't finish us," Beattie said. "That doesn't mean we'll always have money. We're looking at particular people and saying for these pieces, if they fit together, we'll have some resources."
Another possibility is Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui. Orioles vice president Mike Flanagan is handling the club's discussions with Matsui's agent, Arn Tellem, and there was word yesterday that the New York Yankees' preliminary offer to Matsui was lower than expected.
"The window for conversation is still there [with Matsui]," Flanagan said.
The Orioles also need a shortstop, and they talked with the Montreal Expos yesterday about a potential trade for shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Beattie said much of the discussions with the Expos focused on finding a third team to help complete the deal.
NOTES: Hargrove was asked yesterday whether he's concerned going into this season in the final year of his contract. "I'm a fairly patient person," Hargrove said. "If they want to do something tomorrow, that would be great, but if they want to wait to do something, that's fine, too. I haven't been given any indication by Mr. [Peter] Angelos or Jim [Beattie] or Mike [Flanagan] that they're unhappy with the job that I've done."