BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Dreifort Deal Still Not Close

A proposal presented Thursday to right-handed reliever Darren Dreifort has been rejected by Dreifort’s father, who will present a counteroffer to the Dodgers today. If the Dodgers do not sign Dreifort by Monday when he returns for his senior year at Wichita State University, they will lose him. Dreifort was the Dodgers’ first pick and the second overall pick in the June amateur draft.

The Dodgers, who originally offered Dreifort $900,000, improved that offer but told John Dreifort they will not offer a three-year major league contract, which is critical to the Dreiforts accepting the deal.

“They did improve their offer with an increase, but it was not considerable,” John Dreifort said Thursday night. “But we want a three-year major league contract. We want security for Darren and the future because he is giving up his last year of college. The percentages of players who go out before finishing college are not good, with only 2% returning. I guess being a college professor I value education and as a father, I want Darren to have the security. We will not allow him to sign without that.”

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Deion Sanders, who has been suffering from a viral infection that makes it difficult for him to breath at times, did not start in center field. He was announced as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, but when Kevin Gross, who had issued consecutive walks, was relieved by Omar Daal, Sanders was pulled for pinch-hitter Francisco Cabrera instead. Cabrera grounded into a double play to end the inning. . . . Jody Reed’s six-week-old baby, Cassidy Anne, remains in Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena where she is being treated for a urinary tract infection. Michele Reed, Jody’s wife, said Thursday that Cassidy’s condition is stabilized, but she will remain in the hospital for treatment and tests for several days. Jody Reed, who left the team Monday in Atlanta and flew home to be with his family, flew to St. Louis on Thursday where he will meet the team today. . . . Eric Davis, who hit his 13th home run Thursday, came out of the game after the top of the sixth inning with a stiff neck.