After weeks of shopping him around baseball, the Mets seemed set to exile head-case outfielder Roger Cedeno to Seattle.
But Jeff Cirillo, the Mariners starting third baseman who would have headed to Queens, nixed the deal this past week by exercising his no-trade clause.
“As far as the Mets were concerned, it wouldn’t be a starting role, it would have been as a utilityman,” Cirillo’s agent, Jeff Borris, said yesterday. “He didn’t want to move his family across the country if it wasn’t going to be a starting job.”
The Mets didn’t want to comment on the proposed deal, team spokesman Jay Horwitz said.
Cirillo’s contract contains a limited no-trade clause that allows him to block deals to about 10 teams. His decision was to block a deal was first reported yesterday by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
“I’d rather be a backup with the Mariners,” Cirillo was quoted as saying in Saturday’s editions. “I’ll take my chances trying to win a pennant with Seattle, where I’m close to home and close to my family and kids.”
Cirillo is a California native who lives in Redmond, Wash., and his wife has relatives in the Seattle area. That was one of the main draws for Cirillo when he joined the Mariners two years ago.
Though he made All-Star appearances with Milwaukee and Colorado, his hitting with the Mariners has been a major disappointment. A career .312 hitter when he arrived, Cirillo has hit .249 and .205 in two seasons in Seattle.
His defense, on the other hand, has been outstanding, as he’s been charged with only 13 errors in 233 games in Seattle.
Cirillo spent almost month in July and August last season on the disabled list because of a subluxated right shoulder. He did rehabilitation work in the minors but played in only two of Seattle’s final 35 games.
He started with a .171 average in April but hit .306 in May but trailed off after the All-Star break. On July 29, the Mariners traded a minor leaguer for shortstop Rey Sanchez and moved Carlos Guillen to third.
Cirillo is owed $6.6 million in 2004 and $6.9 million in 2005 under a deal he agreed to with Colorado in July 2000. The contract contains a $7.5 million team option for 2006 with a $1.25 million buyout.
STRICKLAND DUMPED
On Friday, the Mets were confident they could sign reliever Scott Strickland. Yesterday, they announced they ran out of time and didn’t tender a contract to the right-hander who became a free agent.
“Because of time constraints we weren’t able to conclude a deal with Scott Strickland to tender him a contract,” GM Jim Duquette said. “We still plan to negotiate with him.”
Strickland, who was eligible for arbitration, was paid $950,000 last year when he pitched in only 19 games due to reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. The 27-year-old was 0-2 with a 2.25 ERA.
He appeared in 68 games for the 2002 Mets, posting a 6-9 record. -George King