SPRING TRAINING ’87 : Padres to Offer Contract to Raines

Ballard Smith, Padre president, plans to offer free-agent outfielder Tim Raines another contract today, but Raines’ agent, Tom Reich, isn’t expecting a settlement.

“I’m not optimistic about anything right now,” Reich said Tuesday. “I won’t believe anything right now until I see a guy (any free agent) in uniform.”

Reich contends that baseball’s owners are conspiring to curtail big-spending free agency.

“In this free-agent environment, I am not going to make any predictions other than the fact that the players are not going to buckle,” Reich said. “In other words, the hostages are in good health.”

In January, Smith offered Raines a two-year, $2.2-million contract, but Raines was hoping for a contract in the neighborhood of $2 million annually and turned down the deal. Sources say the Padres might go as high as $1.3 million for one year in today’s offer.

“I don’t think he (Reich) would particularly like to (come down from $2 million a year), and I’d rather not pay any more than we offered,” Smith said Tuesday. “But we both realize we’ll have to. I think it’s obvious.”

Reich said Raines is interested in “three or four teams.” Raines has contacted the Dodgers and the Braves, but the Padres are the only team to make an offer.

“Our conversations have been extremely friendly,” Reich said. “They (the Padres) are still interested, and so is Tim. We’ll keep talking and see what happens.”