The only way the Phillies' Larry Bowa-Scott Rolen soap opera will go away is if both guys do a Henry Kissinger and try to commit to peace in their time.

So on Monday, the Phillies manager called in Rolen for a closed-door meeting. It may not necessarily have been designed to clear the air, but these two men at least have to speak and carry on a civil, business-like, player-manager relationship. Needless to say, they'd been doing anything but.

Bowa last week acknowledged to the Philadelphia Daily News and the Courier Post of South Jersey that he was avoiding speaking to Rolen because too many people were making too much of it when they did. But when asked about the same subject by Rumblings and Grumblings, Bowa's face reddened.

"Total lies," he said. "Total lies. I talk with him on the half-field. I talk with him in the batting cage. They're gonna write what they want to write. The media does what they want to do, and that's their prerogative. They want to do that, that's fine. I know what I'm doing. I know when I talk to him."

Asked for examples, Bowa said: "There are certain things I have to talk to him about. I'll talk to him about taking a day off. I'll talk to him about (if he can drive to games and not take the bus). He'll ask me if it's OK. So it's all fabricated."

Of course, Bowa's own quotes contributed to -- and even acknowledged -- these reports. But regardless, the manager says he and Rolen will have no trouble coexisting this season.

"Hey, I respect the heck out of him," Bowa said. "First of all, I don't even think there's a problem here. The problem is with Scotty and the front office about signing a contract. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. I'm not the negotiator. I'm not the guy to say, 'Offer him this.' Would I like him in the lineup the next 10 years if I'm here? Without a doubt. But there's nothing I can do about it."

Rolen, meanwhile, admits he has contributed to the unrest far more than he ever intended to.

"The whole environment, the whole distraction, the whole upheaval and the cloud that was cast early, that was from me," he said. "And I understand that. And that's something I'm not proud of, and I never will be proud of that, because that's not me."

Miscellaneous rumblings
The next wave of player-management tension is about to hit in the next week or so -- when some of the many players who signed nonguaranteed, minor-league contracts this winter find themselves with no jobs and no salaries.

The Texas Rangers, for instance, took 34 pitchers to camp this spring. Nine were major-league free agents who signed minor-league deals. But many had a chance to earn big money if they made the big-league staff.

Hideki Irabu could make $2.05 million if he stays in the rotation all year. Bill Pulsipher could make $650,000. Rudy Seanez could make $1.9 million. Steve Woodard could make $1.2 million. And so on.

But there are only so many jobs. And that will mean some very unhappy players.

"I've already sent a fax to my entire staff," said one agent. "I said, 'We're now entering a period where a bunch of players are going to be dumped and disappointed. And guys will be begging and pleading for stuff that's not there. Be prepared.' When the smoke clears, a lot of these guys won't have anything. And it won't be pretty."