Six-player trade with M's expected

By: SHAUN O'NEILL - Staff Writer | Monday, January 5, 2004 10:26 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- The Padres today are likely to exchange two bad contracts in exchange for one.

A six-player trade that should be completed today will send overpriced pitcher Kevin Jarvis and catcher Wiki Gonzalez to the Seattle Mariners for overpriced third baseman Jeff Cirillo, sources said Monday. The Padres also would dispatch infielder Dave Hansen and a minor-leaguer, with Seattle adding a minor-leaguer to round out the trade.

A baseball source said the teams have agreed on the players in the deal and spent Monday working out the financial end of the swap. The Mariners would send a significant amount of money to the Padres to balance the ledgers.

"Financially, it will be a wash," the source said.

In this trade, the teams are more eager to get rid of players than they are to acquire them. Padres general manager Kevin Towers, who refused comment on the trade talks, has been trying to dump Jarvis and Gonzalez for a couple of years.

New Mariners GM Bill Bavasi wants to shed himself of Cirillo to avoid a clubhouse disaster. Bavasi signed former Anaheim Angel Scott Spiezio to play third base, leaving Cirillo without a position.

Cirillo is guaranteed $14.75 million the next two years ---- $6.6 million this year, $6.9 million in 2005 and a $1.25 million buyout for a team option in 2006.

Jarvis is due $4.25 million this year, plus a $500,000 buyout if the Mariners don't pick up a $5.25 million option for 2005. Gonzalez, who spent most of 2003 in the minor leagues, is guaranteed $1.2 million this year and $2.25 million in 2005. Hansen will make $750,000 this year, the last of his two-year pact.

Jarvis and Gonzalez rank among the worst contracts handed out during Towers' eight years as GM, though former club president Bob Vizas is the one culpable for Jarvis.

The right-hander was a bargain in 2001, when he delivered 12 wins for $550,000. Vizas then rewarded Jarvis with a three-year, $9 million guarantee. Jarvis has battled injuries since and has gone 6-12 with a 5.46 ERA in only 23 starts.

Towers can't spread the blame for Gonzalez, however. He gave the catcher a four-year, $4.75 guarantee at the end of the 2001 season, even though Gonzalez never had played more than 95 games in a season. Towers then traded Ben Davis to the Mariners and installed Gonzalez as the starter. Gonzalez responded by batting .220 in 2002 and .200 last year before he was dropped to Triple-A Portland.

Cirillo, likewise, has been in a career tailspin. He had a .312 career batting average when he was traded by Colorado to Mariners in December 2001, but he has hit .249 and .205 in the two years since, with a total of eight home runs.

Last year's disaster included a month on the disabled list because of a shoulder injury, and he played in only two of Seattle's final 35 games.

Cirillo won't be a threat to upend rising star Sean Burroughs at third base, but rather will be a veteran who provides a right-handed bat off the bench. The New York Mets tried to trade for him last month, but Cirillo exercised his partial no-trade rights. Cirillo can veto a trade to 10 designated clubs, but the Padres are not on that list.

Contact staff writer Shaun O'Neill at (760) 740-3546 or soneill@nctimes.com.