Aftermath: Volume 2

by gondeee on Dec 19, 2006 3:56 PM EST

And so the inevitable has finally occurred; Marcus Giles has signed with San Diego:

The second baseman has agreed to a one-year contract with a club option for 2008. The announcement could be made as soon as this afternoon or tomorrow. Before the deal becomes official, however, Marcus Giles must complete a physical examination scheduled for this morning.

"All I can say is this is something we hope to accomplish in the next few days," Joe Bick, the agent for the Giles brothers, said yesterday. "Our interest has been to sign with the Padres. We've been working on finalizing a deal."

Marcus Giles will get a base salary around $3.25 million this season with incentives that could take his contract to $4.25 million. The club option for 2008 is at $4 million.

Chalk this one up in the lose column for John Schuerholz. He tried for almost three months to pawn off Giles on the Padres, but Kevin Towers wouldn't budge. Towers knew the market for second baseman, he knew the market for Marcus Giles, and he knew all that better than Schuerholz. In the end he got the second baseman he had wanted, he got him without giving up anyone to get him, and he got him for $2 million less. This may come back to haunt us...or...it could look rather wise, let me explain...

Giles has not been the best batter at PETCO Park since it opened three years ago. In 43 at-bats Giles sports a .209 BA / .277 OBP / .233 SLG, no homeruns, and a 12-to-4 K/BB ratio at PETCO. Compare that to the .471/.542/.824 (17 ABs) line at San Diego's old stadium, Qualcomm, or to his overall line against the Padres, .263/.346/.364 (118 ABs). Certainly the Padres have some good pitching, but Giles has not been able to do anything with it at PETCO. His huge sweeping swing and desire to swing for the fences may be about as well suited for the Padres new park as was Ryan Klesko's swing. Klesko's homerun total went from the mid-20s to 30s to nine in his first year playing at PETCO. Brain Giles, Marcus' brother, has also seen his homerun production decline. In the three years he's been in San Diego he's hit only 22 homeruns at home verses 30 on the road, and that reflects the decline in all aspects of his offensive game with his home numbers of .272/.377/.430, and his road numbers of .292/.401/.470 in stark contrast to each other.

So by that logic, can Marcus expect a falloff of 20 to 30 points in each of these categories, or will it be worse when taking into account his numbers at PETCO. I think it will be a recipe for disaster as Marcus' big swing will be well suited for Spring Training in Arizona where he might put up big numbers in the high desert, but when he gets home to the long fences of the sea-level PETCO he's in for a rude awakening. As much as I want to root for him, and I do, I am realistic after all these years of watching him that his swing is not suited to that stadium and the numbers above back that assertion up.

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I say F' 'em.

Let him go.

I really liked to watch Marcus play. His defense was always improving and he looked to be one of the best in going deep into the hole and getting the ball. He was fearless in double-plays.

The one thing I didn't like about him was his insistence on saying how much he hated to bat lead-off. Look, no one wanted him to bat lead-off, especially him, but he didn't need to publicly belly-ache every time he gave an interview. If there is any justice in the world this may be true; ESPN is reporting Giles just may have to bat lead-off since Roberts is gone.

His free agent salary was going to be @ $3 million. He knew it. His agent knew it. Schuerholz knew it. Everyone knew it. But he preferred to hold the Braves over a $5 million to $6 million barrel or bolt.

Well, I say "Goodbye, and don't let the doorknob hit you on the shoulder on the way out".

by dave @ Talking Chop on Dec 19, 2006 4:54 PM EST reply actions

That's baseball....

and that's what we have to deal with on a yearly basis being Braves fans. It seems each year the budget shrinks and there are more people to cut. I really miss the days when Turner owned the Braves and had a nice fat wallet. Anyway I still think he will rebound and play much better next year, I won't say 2003 numbers, but better than last year. He should be ok as long as they don't bat him leadoff, but reading some reports about this deal it looks like they will stick him there. It seems this past season when they batted him second, he played much better. I hate to see him go and wish him the best of luck, however we need to focus on starting a new division run with a new second baseman, as long as it's not Brian Roberts :-)

by surge on Dec 19, 2006 10:00 PM EST reply actions

Well

Being that Gondee is one of the smartest people on the planet it was inevitable that he would come to the same conclusion as i would, and that is that Petco will kill Giles. Literally he will collapse from suffocation from his collapsing numbers. Good job GOND!

.....Matt

by yondaime4 on Dec 19, 2006 10:36 PM EST reply actions