The Giles brothers have been reunited, and no, its not over a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas ham. Marcus Giles agreed to terms with the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, bringing together the two brothers for the first time in their professional careers. Giles, who is set to earn $3.2 million this year in base salary, has an option for next year as well.
At his press conference on Wednesday, Giles stated his three goals as a professional baseball player; to play in the majors, to play with his brother Brian, and to win a championship. Good goals Marcus, but is a championship realistic this year with a team that lacks a proven big bat or any resemblence of a threat on the basepaths? There is no doubt, however, that he will solidify the second base position and create a formidable duo up the middle with flashy Khalil Greene. Even though he had a down year last year (.260, 11 HR, 60 RBI), his numbers compare to those of former Padre Josh Barfield and Giles will fit in well in the leadoff position. Along with Giles, Greene, 2006 suprise Adrian Gonzalez, rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Todd Walker, the Padres seem to be set with a solid infield that will most likely repeat the team’s solid defensive performance of 2006.
Though he lacks the great speed that the friar’s former leadoff hitter Dave Roberts had, the Padres will be looking to play a more station to station offense instead of waiting for someone to step up and hit the big home run. And lets face it, with this lineup, home runs will be at a premium with Brian Giles taking more and more walks and the inability to count on Adrian Gonzalez and Mike Cameron as the big guns in the lineup. But regardless of who is hitting the home runs, Marcus Giles will be able to get on base, posting career highs in walks over the past two seasons. and also being considered a doubles machine (45 in 2005). That’ll be important for a Padres lineup which has struggled since the team began to call Petco Park their home, and in order for Giles and the 2007 Padres to have success, they’ll need to learn to use Giles as a table-setter for their unique offense.
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