CINCINNATI -- Could Deion Sanders become a Cincinnati Reds player for the third time? Can general manager Jim Bowden convince Sanders to give up football?

	Sanders

Bowden still thinks Sanders could be one of the great leadoff hitters of all time if he concentrated on baseball only. In two stints with the Reds, he showed flashes of brilliance on the base paths.

"I don't know if he can make our club," Bowden said Thursday. "We've got five very good outfielders in front of him."

The Reds have signed Sanders to a non-guaranteed minor-league contract and have asked him to try to make the team in training camp.

"We don't know if he can still play baseball," Bowden said. "The only way to find out is to bring him to spring training and have him compete for a spot on the roster. We won't know until the end of spring training."

Sanders, 32, has not played baseball since 1997, when he hit .273 and stole 56 bases with the Reds. He has spent the past two years as a full-time football player with the Dallas Cowboys.

Sanders played 115 games with the Reds in '97, the most he has ever played in the majors.

"He stole 56 bases that year and he was going through some personal problems," Bowden said. "Those problems are behind him. When Deion is playing well, he's one of the most disruptive forces on the bases I've even seen."

Sanders has a .266 lifetime average and 183 stolen bases in 609 major-league games. He played for the New York Yankees in 1989-90, the Atlanta Braves in 1991-93, split the season with the Braves and Reds in '94, split '95 with Cincinnati and San Francisco and spent '97 with the Reds after sitting out '96.

"I've said if Deion devoted himself to baseball full time, he'd be one of the best leadoff hitters in the game," Bowden said. "He'd be up there with Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines."

Whether Sanders is going to dedicate himself to baseball is anybody's guess. His $12.7 million contract with the Cowboys can be voided by the club, which could happen because of salary-cap considerations.

Sanders talked about his situation with the Cowboys when their season ended.

"I would like to come back," said Sanders, who wants at least $8 million. "But there are things that need to be addressed."

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones released this statement: "In his contract with the Cowboys, Deion has always had an arrangement to play baseball. We knew that was a possibility in the 2000 season."

Bowden is banking that a new challenge will interest Sanders, who is an eight-time Pro Bowler in football and has won two Super Bowls.

"He hasn't had that kind of success in baseball," Bowden said. "Baseball is the only chapter in his life that ended without great success."

Reds position players are scheduled to report Feb. 21.

The Reds also signed right-handed pitchers Mark Portugal and Johnny Ruffin to minor league contracts.

Portugal, 37, was 7-12 with a 5.51 ERA for Boston last season. He was released by the Red Sox after dropping his final four decisions.

Portugal is 109-95 in his major-league career. He was traded from San Francisco to the Reds on July 21, 1995, in a multiplayer deal that sent Sanders to the Giants.

Ruffin, 28, was 1-1 with 10 saves and a 3.17 ERA for Albuquerque, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 10-6 for Cincinnati from 1993-96.