By Larry LaRue
The News Tribune
The Mariners and Rockies spent more than a week debating what players Seattle would send to Colorado in exchange for third baseman Jeff Cirillo – but not even agreeing on the names involved was enough to complete the deal Friday.
Late into the evening, Seattle still hadn’t come to an agreement with the 32-year-old Cirillo on deferring much of salary from the remaining four years and a team option left on his contract.
Under major league guidelines, a team has 72 hours to work with a player once teams have agreed on a deal, but the trade isn’t considered completed unless – or until – financial terms are in order.
It’s no secret the Mariners want Cirillo, a career .311 hitter, to beef up the heart of their batting order next season, and the deal they finally negotiated with Colorado apparently would send pitchers Jose Paniagua, Dennis Stark and Brian Fuentes to the Rockies. But Cirillo has three years and that team option left on his existing contract, and the Mariners would have to guarantee at least $27 million of that.
With free agent second baseman Bret Boone considering accepting salary arbitration – and the Mariners aware that he could command more than $11 million should he win – Seattle was faced with a budget crunch. How to fit both Cirillo and Boone into the payroll and still pursue a deal for a left fielder and a starting pitcher?
Apparently, one option was to have Cirillo defer parts of his salary.
The Mariners, Cirillo and major league baseball – which must also sign off on any financial agreement – have until late Saturday to finish the deal.
If they haven’t by the deadline, the trade would become just another close-but-not-quite offseason transaction.
Why Cirillo and not, say, Philadelphia third baseman Scott Rolen?
Largely because Rolen is signed only through next season, and the Phillies were demanding far more for him than the Rockies were for Cirillo. At one point last week, the Phillies were asking for pitchers Freddy Garcia and Joel Pineiro.
Seattle passed.
In Paniagua, Stark and Fuentes, the Mariners would lose a veteran middle reliever, the Pacific Coast League’s top starting pitcher last season and a young left-hander who appears ready to pitch in the majors. What they would get in return would be a hitter whose stroke seems to be more suited to spacious Safeco Field than the cozy confines of Coors Field in Denver.
“Cirillo isn’t a power hitter, and even in that band box in Colorado he didn’t try to be,” one National League scout said. “He’s a line drive hitter with gap power, a professional .300 hitter who uses the whole field.
“He’s not the kind of hitter who can carry a team. He’s more the type of hitter who fits into any lineup and contributes.”
Cirillo would be an offensive upgrade at third base over David Bell, the free agent who played for Seattle most of last season. While Bell is considered a marvelous defensive player, Cirillo finished the 2001 season with a streak of 85 consecutive errorless games at third – the National League single-season record.
Last season, Cirillo batted .312 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI. Bell, by comparison, batted .260 with 15 home runs and 64 RBI.
A two-time All-Star who lives in Redmond during the offseason, Cirillo told Denver writers earlier this week that he would restructure his contract for the chance to play in the Northwest.
If he does, apparently, that will happen.
As of Friday, it hadn’t.
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