Brian Giles Ponders His Future

Brian Giles makes no excuses about the worst season of his professional career.

“It’s obviously frustrating,” Giles said on Monday, shortly before the Padres took on the Astros. “We’re not winning. I haven’t done much offensively and now with this injury it’s been real frustrating.”

Not doing much offensively would be the understatement of the year. When Giles was placed on the disabled list on June 19^th with a right knee contusion, he was hitting .191 with a .277 on-base percentage and a .271 slugging percentage. Compare that if you will to his career .291 average,  a .400 on-base percentage  and a .271 slugging percentage, then it’s no surprise to feel why Giles is frustrated and the Padres are equally frustrated with the player they chose to execute a $9-million dollar option on last November.

Given his struggles coupled with the  youth movement on this team with players such as Will Venable and Kyle Blanks, whom Bud Black and Kevin Towers have repeatedly said will get playing time, I asked Giles if he expects the Padres to part ways with him in the near future.

“That’s always a possibility. We saw what happened May 20^th here.  So that’s always a possibility. The good thing is if it’s not a situation you’re comfortable with you ultimately have the power to make sure that deal goes through. So I’m going to deal with it.”

Giles was referring to the Padres ill-fated attempt to trade Jake Peavy to the White Sox, which he of course rejected and also referenced when the team tried to trade him to the Red Sox last year, which he ultimately vetoed as well.

“Well it happened with me last year through waivers, I felt. It was something that was supposed to be confidential all of a sudden was put into the media. It’s a business.  I think every player understands that, I understand that. I just think it’s frustrating when you’ve felt you’ve done a lot for this organization in your career, for things to get out that way, to put you in public opinion instead of dealing with it one on one, but like I said, Jake controls his situation and I control my situation so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Waiver deals are supposed to remain secret. But of course in today’s media, absolutely nothing is a secret. (See Lou Piniella on his allegedly private conversation with Milton Bradley getting out) Giles was clearly bothered by the public pressure he was put under once his veto to the Red Sox was made public, similar to how the Padres “secret” trade of Peavy to the White Sox was revealed. Was it done to put pressure on the players to accept the deals? Who knows. Did it leave a sour taste with Giles?

“It’s part of the business, obviously. But like I said, as players, you only get an opportunity in your career a few times, maybe one time if that, a lot of guys don’t get that opportunity to control their own destiny so it’s something where if we get to that point and it’s a good situation and I feel like I fit in good there, then obviously with me probably not going to be here next year, you’ve got to look at some other options.”

That’s a good point. And before you blame Peavy or Giles for not accepting trades that would reduce the already absurd $45 million dollar payroll even further, don’t forget that the Padres signed them to these deals in the first place and gave them no-trade clauses. Period. They weren’t jedi mind-tricked into the deals and no one was complaining when the deals were originally made.

It’s hard to imagine that there’s a single team out there that’s looking to pick up a 38-year old outfielder who’s struggling with a .191 average and an unloadable nine-million dollar contract. And don’t forget the $2 million clause that kicks in if Giles were to be traded. So given the option of competing for playing time on a team that’s going nowhere fast and playing for the future, I asked him if he’d consider waiving that option.

“That’s what this organization signed me to. Like I said, I can’t feel sorry for them. Certainly I know organizations don’t feel sorry for players when things aren’t going well. It’s a contract. It’s not Indian- giving here where you give it, then three or four years ago and all of a sudden you want to take it back. It’s a contract they signed, it’s a contract I signed and I felt I’ve always honored all my contracts I’ve played under and I’ll honor this one.”

“I think my biggest concern right now is to get healthy. Like I said, two years ago I played with the same injury and only went a couple more weeks before it finally went out on me. So hopefully it does get better soon so I can get back out there and play. You know these are all business decisions that ultimately I have no control over what this organization is going to do, but I do have control of where I might go or what I want to do with my career. It’s a two-way street there.”

But what does the future hold for Giles when he does come off the disabled list? Giles says he noticed some progress over the weekend, but doesn’t want to rush back from the injury the way he did two years ago. Would he accept a platoon role in the outfield with Tony Gwynn, who is going to play on a regular basis, or Venable, who needs playing time?  Would Giles prefer a clean cut and a chance to help another organization or rather stay in the comforts of home and have to compete for playing time with younger players that are part of the team’s future?

“Obviously it’s going to depend on the situation and I’ll just leave it at that. It’s one of those things that if it happens we’ll discuss it and I’ll make a decision based on what’s best for Brian Giles and I know baseball and organizations do what’s best for the organization so I’ll do what’s best for myself.”  

To his credit, Giles isn't making any excuses or hiding behind an injury for his slow start.
As far as speculation that his off-field personal issues contributed to his struggles?

"No. That was always going to be perception. Everything with me is fine. I was healthy in spring training and got off to a bad start.  There's still a lot of season left. Right now, my main focus is to get healthy." 

"Right now, I’m looking forward to playing next year. We’ll just see what happens. I know it’s not going to be here, I know things are changing a little bit here but I want to finish this season strong and have an opportunity to play next year."