MERALCO officials confirmed Jared Dillinger has signed with Barangay Ginebra but expressed disappointment over the events leading up to the move.
Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo explained Dillinger didn’t inform the Bolts that he will be signing with Barangay Ginebra shortly after the Fil-Am guard was relegated to the unrestricted free agent list.
Trillo said there was a gentlemen’s agreement between Meralco and Dillinger that he will not be moving to any team after it relegated him to the unrestricted free agent (UFA) list to make room for new recruit Raymond Almazan on the injured/reserve list while the latter nursed a calf injury.
Dillinger, on the other hand, is still out for two months due to a recurring quad injury.
“Before the start of the conference, nag-usap kami. Since we acquired Raymond Almazan who was injured, si Almazan ang protected. But we had a gentlemen’s agreement and we told him even if he is at UFA, he will stay. Ang usapan namin, he is supposed to stay with us,” said Trillo.
Trillo said he was surprised to find out in a PBA memo on Friday that the 35-year-old Dillinger has already signed with the Gin Kings.
“Nalaman na lang namin na he chose to sign with Ginebra without talking to us, conferring with us. Medyo disappointing lang kasi all these years, we supported him. We have a relationship with him that obviously he didn’t value. We had an agreement that he will stay. If there was at least a team that is interested in him, he will let us know and give us the option to match or whatever."
The transfer ends a six-year stint by Dillinger with the Bolts, who was initially drafted by TNT at second overall in the 2008 PBA draft.
Despite the feeling of betrayal, Trillo said Meralco is moving on following the move of Dillinger to Ginebra.
“In his words kasi, we never gave him an offer he couldn’t resist which I don’t know what it is because he is already receiving almost the max. Kung max lang naman consideration, he could have let us know, he could have talked to us about it. Like I said, it was a gentleman’s agreement that he didn’t honor,” said Trillo.
“We just have to move on. If he doesn’t value our organization and our relationship, that’s okay. We move on,” said Trillo.
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