A three-year offer of more than $21 million from the Padres didn't prevent right fielder Brian Giles, the club's presumptive Most Valuable Player in 2005, from filing for free agency yesterday along with four others.
San Diego's offer is "not close" to getting a deal done, Giles' agent, Joe Bick, said yesterday.
"I will say that our primary goal all along has been to get Brian re-signed with the San Diego Padres, and nothing has changed as far as that goal is concerned," Bick said. "But things have moved kind of slow, which is fine. I'm not criticizing that. But now they have put themselves into a position where we're allowed to talk to other people."
Giles, who will turn 35 in January, is a free agent for the first time in a career that began when the Cleveland Indians chose him in the 17th round of the 1989 draft.
The Granite Hills High alum earned $7 million last season, the final year of a five-year pact issued by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Padres invested no small sum to get Giles, trading outfielder Jason Bay and left-hander Oliver Perez to Pittsburgh in August 2003. Bay went on to win the Rookie of the Year award in 2004 and this year should earn votes for the league's MVP award.
Giles, however, shouldered the burdens of a veteran core player, helping the Padres to consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1991-92 and their first playoff berth since 1998.
The left-hander's home run power declined sharply, in some part due to the spaciousness of Petco Park. After averaging 37 home runs in his four full seasons with the Pirates, Giles hit 23 for the Padres in 2004 and 15 this year.
But Giles led this year's team in several offensive categories, including RBI, runs scored and slugging percentage. He led the majors in walks (119), boosting a career on-base percentage (.413) that ranks among the top 35 all-time.
Under his recent deal, Giles outproduced several players who drew salaries ranging from $8 million to $15 million. He's free to talk to other clubs about duration of contract and other issues, but until Nov. 11 can discuss dollars only with the Padres.
Among the clubs interested in Giles are the St. Louis Cardinals, who made it known in July they tried to trade for him. The Boston Red Sox also showed interest earlier this month, and although the Oakland A's aren't big spenders, they tried to trade for Giles in his Pirates days and employ one of his best friends, catcher Jason Kendall. Bick also could hear from the L.A. Dodgers, one of six clubs Giles excluded from his trade-veto list four years ago.
Other Padres who filed yesterday were catcher Ramon Hernandez, third baseman Joe Randa and relievers Chris Hammond and Rudy Seanez. CEO Sandy Alderson has said Hernandez likely will sign with another club.