NASHVILLE, Tenn. - For the Orioles, the mating dance continued yesterday.
They were prepared to make an offer to their primary offseason target - free-agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez - but his agent flew back to California from the winter meetings not knowing what that offer will be.
Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie and vice president Mike Flanagan told Rodriguez's agent, Jeff Moorad, they would talk to him in the afternoon.
But both Orioles executives attended a two-hour meeting with other general managers, and by the time they got out, Moorad was headed to the airport.
This could wind up being the perfect marriage, but for now no one wants to look too eager.
The Orioles will make their first offer today, by phone from Baltimore, Beattie said. The two sides talked in more general terms when they met here Saturday.
"We're not stalling," Beattie said.
Rodriguez, 31, is believed to be seeking at least $10 million a season, but Orioles officials have hinted their offer will be closer to $6 million per year. It will likely be a complex deal, with incentives and options that could keep Rodriguez under contract for three to five years.
The Orioles aren't afraid they'll insult Rodriguez today.
"He can be mad at his agent or something," Beattie said, "but at this point, I think these guys that are making that kind of money understand that it's a business. Other people had an opportunity to pay him more.
"That wouldn't be something that would necessarily enter into my thoughts."
Rodriguez is a 10-time All-Star catcher who has won 10 Gold Glove Awards. At most winter meetings, a free agent like him has teams falling over themselves to make offers.
This wasn't most winter meetings.
Beattie, Flanagan and other top members of their front office staff will fly back to Baltimore today having accomplished one goal - signing free-agent shortstop Deivi Cruz - but they still need a hitter who can bolster their sagging offense.
"Things can pick up when we get back to California," Moorad said.
Asked how Rodriguez was handling the process, Moorad said, "He's great. He knows spring training doesn't start until February."
After the 1997 season, the Texas Rangers gave Rodriguez a five-year, $50 million contract. He earned a $250,000 bonus for winning American League MVP honors in 1999 and made $9 million last season.
Rodriguez missed six weeks with a herniated disc in his back, but he returned to play in 96 of the team's final 104 games. He finished the season batting .314 with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs.
The Orioles are considered the clear favorites to sign Rodriguez mostly because there hasn't been a lot of other interest. The Chicago Cubs were said to be serious contenders, but after meeting with Moorad on Sunday and finding out what Rodriguez wants, the Cubs pulled back.
Yesterday, Cubs officials said Rodriguez will have to lower his demands before they'll re-enter serious negotiations.
Moorad said the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers also have talked to him about Rodriguez. "The Brewers' interest seemed more preliminary," Moorad said.
"The Reds asked for an opportunity to match any deal we might come up with. That being said, I'm not sure how serious they would be in the end."
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said he spoke with Moorad about Rodriguez at the winter meetings.
"You never know," said Melvin, who had Rodriguez on his roster when he was the Rangers' GM, "he could be another Andre Dawson."
In 1987, Dawson signed a blank contract with the Cubs and wound up hitting 49 home runs while earning $500,000.
In other Orioles news:
Their chances of obtaining Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui seemed to fade to black, with the New York Yankees reportedly signing him to a three-year, $20 million contract. Free agents Jeff Kent and Cliff Floyd are still available, but the Orioles' interest in both of them is marginal at best.
Beattie said they don't have a match with the Montreal Expos for the likes of Bartolo Colon or Javier Vazquez, but they have told Expos GM Omar Minaya they might have interest in acquiring one of the players he gets for them in a trade.
If the Expos got left-handed-hitting outfielder Trot Nixon from the Boston Red Sox, for example, the Orioles could ship lower-priced players to Montreal for Nixon, who is expected to make $4 million through arbitration.
The Orioles didn't gain or lose any players in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft yesterday (in which draftees must be kept on the big-league roster all season), but they did lose one of their top minor-league performers from last season.
Mamon Tucker, who hit .300 for Single-A Frederick, went to the Cubs in the Triple-A phase of the draft. The Cleveland Indians also selected first baseman Rick Elder and left-handed pitcher Randal Perez off the Orioles' Double-ABowie roster. The Orioles picked all three of those players in the first eight rounds of the 1998 amateur draft.
With their own selections in the minor-league portion of yesterday's draft, the Orioles took catcher Saul Soto from the Los Angeles Dodgers and first baseman Charley Carter from the Detroit Tigers. Both were assigned to Triple-A Ottawa.
Soto, 24, batted .286 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 99 games while on loan to Oaxaca of the Mexican League in 2002. He has spent four of the past five seasons in the Mexican League, twice batting over .300.
Carter, 27, hit .280 and ranked among the Eastern League leaders in home runs (21, T4th), RBIs (92, 3rd) and extra base hits (54, T4th). He has hit 26 homers with 189 RBIs over the past two seasons and is a career .279 hitter in five minor-league seasons.