Larkin Gets Goodbye Call From Reds

Barry Larkin’s stellar 19-year career with his hometown team ended Tuesday with a one-sided phone call.

The Cincinnati Reds told their captain and 40-year-old shortstop they weren’t interested in keeping him around for another season.

Larkin was at his home in Orlando, Fla., when General Manager Dan O’Brien and Manager Dave Miley -- a former teammate -- called with the decision.

“It wasn’t pleasant,” Larkin told Associated Press. “But it is what it is. It’s definitely disappointing. I have decisions to make.”

Larkin’s 19 seasons with one team was the longest current streak in the majors. He had hoped for a 20th and was willing to discuss returning in a utility role, but the Reds ruled it out.

“You hate to say goodbye to the great players, but the process of the game is ultimately, all great careers do eventually end,” O’Brien said.

Larkin said he wasn’t sure about trying to play one more season with another team.

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Omar Minaya, general manager of the New York Mets, has received permission to talk to New York Yankee bench coach Willie Randolph about the team’s managerial position.

Art Howe was fired near the end of the season.

Terry Collins, Dodger minor league field coordinator, has been granted permission by the team to interview for the Mets’ managerial job. Collins managed the Angels from 1997 to 1999 and Houston from 1994 to 1996.

Texas coach Rudy Jaramillo and former Toronto manager Carlos Tosca also have received official interest from the Mets.

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Angel bench coach Joe Maddon, 50, who has spent 30 years in the organization, the last 11 on the big league staff, will interview for the Arizona managerial job Thursday in Phoenix.

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Cleveland declined to pick up 37-year-old shortstop Omar Vizquel’s $5-million contract option for next season, making him eligible to become a free agent when the World Series ends.

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Barry Bonds’ 700th home run ball will be up for sale Monday through Oct. 27 on an auction site at Overstock.com, said an attorney for the man who ended up with the ball at SBC Park in San Francisco.

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Atlanta shortstop Rafael Furcal turned himself in to the Cobb County (Ga.) jail to serve a 21-day sentence on a probation violation on a drunken driving charge.

Furcal was arrested Sept. 10 in Atlanta on a charge of driving under the influence -- his second DUI arrest in four years.

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Bonds had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for an arthritic condition.... Milwaukee pitcher Ben Sheets had surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back.