It appears that manager Dusty Baker may be driving a hard bargain in his contract negotiations with the Reds.
Baker is in the final year of a three-year contract that carries a $3.5 million annual salary. He was offered what is believed to be a multi-year extension in mid-August but is taking his time accepting. Probably because his Reds are just a couple days away from locking up their first playoff berth since 1995 and Baker can capitalize on that success.
“We’re talking,” Baker said before Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. “Negotiations don’t
just happen overnight sometimes, especially when you’re in a pennant
race.”
As noted by John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds went 74-88 in Baker’s first year, 78-84 in Baker’s second year, and are now 84-65 — seven games above the Cardinals in the National League Central.
