AROUND THE MAJORS

Manager Jack McKeon was undecided about accepting a one-year contract extension from the Cincinnati Reds that didn’t meet his expectations.

McKeon returned to his home in North Carolina after meeting Friday with John Allen, the Reds’ managing executive. The Reds offered a one-year extension with a minimal raise, McKeon said.

He’ll decide in the next few days whether to accept it.

“I got an offer. There was no negotiating,” McKeon said in a telephone interview. “They said it was a firm offer. There was no movement at all on their part.

“I guess the way you look at it is: It’s take it or leave it.”

Allen was unavailable for comment.

McKeon, who turns 69 next month, is a leading candidate for NL manager of the year. He led the Reds to 96 victories--their best total since 1976--despite a $35-million payroll last season. The Reds missed the playoffs by losing a one-game tiebreaker for the wild-card berth to the New York Mets.

McKeon made a little more than $500,000 last season in base salary and incentives. The Reds’ offer reportedly contained a pay increase of about $50,000.

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Houston Astro third basemen Ken Caminiti was discharged from a hospital where he was being treated for a back injury.

Caminiti, who sat out 79 games this season because of a calf problem, suffered three fractures in his lower back after falling from a deer blind during a hunting trip early Wednesday near Laredo, Texas.