Alan Diaz / AP file

Ivan Rodriguez was offended by the Marlins' offer.

It’s mid-January, a time when rosters usually are set and the can’t-wait-until-camp-opens lull has kicked in. But Greg Maddux and Ivan Rodriguez still remain currently unemployed future Hall of Famers. Not coincidentally, they share the same agent, Scott Boras.

There’s nothing wrong with driving a hard bargain, and finding the best deal. And within a week or so, both of these already-very-wealthy stars will sign lucrative contracts once again. But there is such a thing as playing the negotiating game too hard to the player’s detriment, and that appears to be the case twice over here -– no matter what you will hear when they finally sign on the dotted line.

Let’s look at Rodriguez first. After winning a World Series MVP award and leading his team to a championship, he appeared to be in perfect position to cash in. First of all, at 32, he still has a few seasons left as an All-Star-level player, health permitting. The Marlins said they wanted him back. The Orioles, Cubs and Dodgers also reportedly had interest. Certainly, his situation was much improved over last winter, when he was coming off three injury-marred seasons, and had to deal with overblown knocks on his reputation for handling pitchers.

But almost three months after sitting atop the baseball world with a huge grin on his face amidst a World Series victory celebration, Rodriguez is considering signing with the Detroit Tigers, a team that fell one game short of tying the record for the worst season in major-league history. A team that could improve by 18 games this season, and still lose 100. Does that seem like a good career move to you?

Rodriguez’s first choice was to stay with the Marlins, where he’s a hero and has a home. He had a reported offer of three years and $24 million to do so. But he said it was unfair of the Marlins to ask him to take a cut from the $10 million he earned last season, and Boras insists on not giving "hometown discounts". So, no deal.

Meanwhile, Baltimore turned to Javy Lopez, the Dodgers remain hamstrung as their ownership change is in limbo, and the Cubs have made Maddux their top priority for now. That leaves the Tigers as the apparent leading suitor, although Boras told The Associated Press this week a handful of teams remain in the picture.

Maybe the Tigers will give Rodriguez that $10 million a year he wants. Maybe they even will give him the four-year, $40-million-plus deal Boras reportedly was seeking earlier this winter. But if a deal is struck, it smacks of a money grab by Rodriguez, and another overpayment by a team desperate for positive news and a star on its roster. And we see the mess that has created for the Texas Rangers and Alex Rodriguez –- yet another Boras client. The Tigers realistically need two years minimum to rise from the rubble of their 119-loss season. How could Rodriguez be happy there? And his salary will prevent them from getting more of the help they desperately need.

Maddux’s fate actually was sealed last winter. When nobody met his long-term demands at that point, he accepted the Braves’ offer of arbitration, and turned that into a $14.75-million windfall -– the highest salary ever awarded in arbitration. That was great in the short term, but unwilling to take that gamble again this winter, when they are in a cost-cutting mode, the Braves just let him go without so much as an offer. That’s no way to go out for a pitcher who is just 11 games away from a milestone 300^th victory. Wouldn’t a two-year deal signed last winter with Atlanta have been the better route to take? Or maybe Maddux doesn’t care where his 300^th victory comes after winning 194 with the Braves over the last 12 years.

After saying he was sorry to leave Atlanta, Maddux, 37, then voiced a preference for pitching closer to the new home he was building for his family in Orange County, Calif. That made the Padres, Dodgers, Giants and Diamondbacks all possibilities, and you probably could throw in the Angels, as well, although his first choice is to stay in the National League.

But the early asking price -– excessive even as an opening bargaining position at a reported four years and $40-plus-million -– scared everybody away. The Padres had him atop their list, but quickly turned to 40-year-old David Wells, whose numbers are similar but who took one year and $1.5 million coming off back surgery -- a cheap enough price for San Diego to also sign Ismael Valdes and Sterling Hitchcock.

The Diamondbacks and Giants are in cost-cutting modes, so nothing has materialized there, and the Angels instead turned to Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar. That leaves the Cubs, Cardinals, Mets and Orioles still reportedly in the mix to some degree. But they don’t fit Maddux’s original criteria, and don’t appear to want to meet Maddux’s demands, either. But at least the first two teams are contenders, and the latter two could be much improved.

There is an offer on the table from the Cubs, reported at two years and around $14 million. That’s the obvious sentimental choice for the one-time Cub who got away. But Boras has put the kibosh on sentiment for now, saying the offer is for a much higher amount of money, and that a handful of other teams still are in the picture.

Maybe another team will step forward and save Rodriguez from a purgatory sentence in Detroit. Maybe there really are a couple of more teams seriously courting Maddux, and he will get the money he’s seeking, one way or the other. Or maybe he will be happy finishing up in Chicago. Or, maybe it is more about the money than they are letting on, and this is the way they wanted things to unfold. But it shouldn’t be this difficult for players of their stature.

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