Reds manager Dusty Baker will take his time, weigh options while considering extension

Dusty Baker is prepared to take his time weighing an offer to manage the Cincinnati Reds again next season.

The Reds have offered Baker a one-year contract extension for the 2011 campaign, but he has yet to give the club an answer and certainly wants to weigh his options. Cincinnati opened its three-game series against Baker's former team in San Francisco on Monday night with a 72-52 record, making a push at the franchise's first playoff berth since 1995.

Being Baker is in a pennant race in the NL Central, he might create other opportunities for himself. There could be managerial openings on a third of the clubs this offseason, with 14 skippers in the final year of their contracts.