Reds Make Larkin 5th on Pay List : Baseball: Five-year, $25.6-million contract makes him highest-paid shortstop in history.

CINCINNATI —  The Cincinnati Reds made Barry Larkin the fifth-highest paid player in the major leagues, agreeing Sunday to a five-year contract worth $25.6 million.

Larkin, 27, a four-time All-Star, becomes the highest-paid shortstop in history. Larkin made $2.1 million last year and filed a $4.2-million arbitration request on Friday.

Larkin had thought there was a “very good possibility” he would leave his hometown as a free agent after the 1992 season. He openly questioned the team’s commitment to winning after it finished fifth in the National League West last season, and wondered whether he would be offered a salary comparable to the best in baseball.

He changed his mind when the Reds acquired starting pitchers Tim Belcher and Greg Swindell in off-season trades and made a lucrative opening contract offer.

“Throughout the years, I’ve been kind of vocal about questioning the commitment to winning here,” Larkin said. “The things that happened this off-season definitely showed me that this team does want to win. This is the kind of situation I want to be in.”

The Reds made him by far the highest-paid player in franchise history, eclipsing the $3.1 million-per-year deal given Eric Davis before the 1990 season.

Larkin’s average annual salary of $5.12 million trails only New York Met outfielder Bobby Bonilla ($5.8 million), Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Jack Morris ($5.425 million), Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens ($5.38 million) and Met pitcher Dwight Gooden ($5.15 million). The only other player with a $5 million contract is New York Yankee outfielder Danny Tartabull ($5.1 million).