ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Steve Phillips leaned on a hallway wall, doing his best not to give too many hints to his thoughts.

He couldn't hide his interest in Ken Griffey Jr.

"We were one of the inquiring teams," the New York Mets general manager said, one of his most direct statements yet about Seattle's All-Star center fielder.

When Phillips spoke, he had met with nine of the 13 teams on his appointment list for Saturday. His session with Seattle hadn't started yet, so he didn't know how to react to the Cincinnati Reds' decision to break off trade talks with the Mariners on Griffey.

"We met with Cincinnati after the press conference and he was still a little wired," Phillips said of Reds GM Jim Bowden. "I think it's safe to assume that you count yourselves out sometimes and things happen that could bring you back in."

Gillick said he talked to three other teams about Griffey, saying, "We had an excellent meeting with the Mets."

New York did make a move late Saturday night, signing free agent Todd Zeile to an $18 million, three-year deal to take the place of recently-departed first baseman John Olerud.

"This was a very, very difficult decision for me to make," said Zeile, who spoke with Mets catcher Mike Piazza before agreeing to the deal. Last year, Zeile was traded with Piazza from Los Angeles to Florida.

New York has also expressed interest in free agents David Segui and Greg Vaughn, although Segui would seem an unlikely candidate to join the Mets now. Phillips doesn't appear very interested in pitchers Chuck Finley or Aaron Sele.

"I think they're some very capable pitchers out there," Phillips said. "I think their contract demands are not necessarily where we want to go."

However, some starting pitchers might be available in the trade market. Houston's Mike Hampton was the latest name to be mentioned. Phillips wouldn't mention names and wouldn't even discuss teams.

"I think we have some nice possibilities so far," he said.