Padres release 2B Marcus Giles

[DannoMac21]

SAN DIEGO -- The Giles brothers reunion with their hometown San Diego Padres lasted only one season.

Second baseman Marcus Giles, the younger brother of right fielder Brian Giles, was put on waivers Friday. The Padres owe Marcus a $500,000 buyout of his $4 million option.

Giles opened as the Padres' leadoff hitter but began slumping in May. He was benched for three games after the All-Star break, then saw most of the playing time down the stretch go to utilityman Geoff Blum.

"He had a terrific April for us; he was one of our better hitters," general manager Kevin Towers said. "He just cooled down after that. There came a time where we were in a pennant race and we had to go with the hot hand. At that time we felt Geoff Blum gave us a chance to win ballgames. That's why he got the playing time toward the end of the season.

"My hope is that Marcus gets back to being a productive big- league player. It just won't happen here in San Diego."

Giles hit .229 with four home runs and 39 RBIs.

The Giles brothers grew up in suburban El Cajon.

Towers said the Padres have four replacement candidates in the organization -- Matt Antonelli, Oscar Robles, Luis Rodriguez and Craig Stansberry.

The Padres also claimed right-hander Mauro Zarate off waivers from the Florida Marlins.

Zarate made his major league debut on Aug. 7 at Philadelphia and appeared in four games for the Marlins in 2007.

[sbrylski]

I have little doubt he'll bounce back somewhere. If Weeks wasn't cemented into 2B by management, I'd love to go after him for 1 year / $4 mil.

[JoeHova]

Last offseason there was a ton of talk about the Pads' 2nd base situation. It turned out that the guy they dealt (Barfield) and the guy they signed (Giles) were both horrible. Kind of funny, really.

[recte44]

How about Giles for a LF option?

[AJAY]

How about Giles for a LF option?

 

Giles hit .229 with four home runs and 39 RBIs in 420 at-bats.

 

I'll pass.

[dadofandrew]

Gross is oodles better in LF than Giles.

[radman12484]

Giles would be a good pitch hitter and a Graffy type player. Granted he had a bad year last year, but he could bounce back.

[endaround]

When Bonds brings the steroid allegations at least he brings the hitting.

[BrewCrewForever]

It was not that long ago that Giles was the best 2B in the NL, then Chase Utley came along....