It’s bad enough for Mets fans to watch their leaky bullpen game after game. It’s even worse to know two rookie lefties the Mets essentially gave away have landed in the majors with Boston.
Lenny DiNardo, 24, and Phil Seibel, 25, were deemed expendable by the Mets last winter. Seibel was placed on waivers in November, while DiNardo was left unprotected in the Rule V draft in December.
Boston snapped up both players, and entering yesterday the duo had pitched a combined 42/3 innings of no-hit ball. Meanwhile, the Mets’ bullpen was 27th among 30 teams with a 5.47 ERA. Mets relievers had posted a 1-4 record entering play yesterday.
Mets GM Jim Duquette said DiNardo was one of a few players the Mets left unprotected but still liked. The Mets, however, had questions about his major-league readiness.
Seibel is gone for good. But if DiNardo can’t remain on Boston’s 25-man roster throughout the season, the Red Sox must give him back to the Mets or offer up a trade to keep him.
“We’re watching him closely, and we don’t wish him to pitch poorly, but we would like to get him back,” Duquette said.
Last season, DiNardo was 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA in seven games with Double-A Binghamton and 3-8 with a 2.01 ERA at Single-A St. Lucie. He made his major-league debut Friday at Yankee Stadium and pitched a perfect ninth.
“Where I’m at now, I definitely don’t think I’d be with the Mets,” DiNardo said. “I’m not saying I got lucky, but being at the right place at the right time . . . seemed to work out really well for me so far.”
Seibel, originally an eighth-round pick by Montreal in 2000, was acquired in the Scott Strickland/Bruce Chen trade in April 2002. Last year, he was 5-5 with a 3.59 ERA at Double-A Binghamton and 2-3 with a 6.03 ERA at Triple-A Norfolk.
“To finally be able to reach this and be at this place finally is kind of a gratifying feeling,” Seibel said. “The Mets were [a] big-market team, and I understood what that meant.
“They would go out and sign people, free agents and stuff. So I know that being a young guy, it’s tough not only to get there but to get the opportunity to pitch and stay there.”with Mark Hale in Chicago