Giles and Reitsma Free Agents

MLB.com reports that the Atlanta Braves have decided to not tender contracts to Marcus Giles and Chris Reitsma. Giles and Reitsma can now be offered contracts by any team in the MLB.

The second base market now consists of Giles, Mark Loretta, and Ron Belliard.  As for Reitsma, I think he's worth a million on the gamble that he can return as a useful starter or reliever.

Comments

[jondogg1985]

I think the Red Sox should go after Giles. Hell with Pedroia when you can have Giles on your team. And to think he would bat NINTH on our team.

[beeniez]

I'll see you in hell Reitsma!

I'd be very surprised if Giles isn't signed by the Padres.

[zubes007]

METS METS METS METS METS METS METS METS METS METS METS METS METS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what a horrible move by Schuerholz....there must be some outside reason for this, I mean they could have gotten SOMETHING for him, right? Giles is the best player in recent memory to be non-tendered.

[Uncle Shmool]

Mets might be contenders. I'm about 80% sure. And I'm thinking the Mariners, but I've been wrong before.

[anm712]

The Red Sox, of course, yawn. They always seem to fall ass backwards into good players (I.E. David Ortiz). I was hoping he'd be a Cub, but now we have Mark DeRosa!??? Great...

[beeniez]

Zubes007, read the first question and you'll see why Giles was non-tendered.

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061210&content_id=1759024&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

[quintjs]

I don't see much in Giles' numbers that Pedroia/Cora are not capable of doing.

And given the money spent so far this off season, and the needs they have, I don't see the Red Sox really getting involved here.

[eli]

the padres will get him. his brother is there, and he has done well in san diego his whole career.

signed

www.mlb-rumors.blogspot.com

[5150bosox]

padres
him and his brother go to all the charger home games. he lives in SD and has told me he wants to play here, and he'll take the SD discount. the only way he goes somewhere else is if the rsox offer hugh$$

[djskilbr]

Ya, I would be SHOCKED if he's not a Padre after all is said and done. That's his hometown, his brother is there, they need a 2b, and they need a signing to ease the fan backlash of trading fan fav. Barfield. He'll be in Petco within 2 weeks' time.

[Kramerica Industries]

Reitsma to the Red Sox makes sense to me as well!

[Mr_Punch]

I'd put my money on the Padres. They need a 2nd baseman and he'd be joinging brother, Brian. It just seems to make a lot of sense.

I'd love to see the Red Sox get him, but I think they are content enough with Pedroia that they won't bid too high for his services.

[deadbeat17]

huge padre fan, not so huge giles fan, but what the hell, if we can get him for cheap, ho couldnt be too bad. although i dont really see the point, i mean todd walker can get pretty close to comparable stats. am i right?

i dont want to just spend money cuz hes our RF's bro. he better play good as fuck if we pay him.

[Gleebo]

2 or 3 years ago you wouldn't have believed it if someone told you that the Braves weren't gonna tender Marcus Giles.

The past 3 seasons have pretty much shown us that 2003 was an anomaly,

[thecubsdontcatchtheball]

I think him and Prior should run into each other again. When it happened in 2003, it gave both players a boost.

[nrmax88]

i would lvoe for the mets to land giles, doubt it tho, i say SD

[bravesrule14]

"Giles is the best player in recent memory to be non-tendered."

ya i remember a guy named like David Eckstein and liek he won some sotr of MVP i think it was the world series one.

[nrmax88]

i dont understand this nonsense about 2003 being an anomaly, he had very good 04 and 05 seasons, or atleast better then average, 06 was the abberation it seems like, after the made him bat leadoff which is not what he feels comfortable doing.

[trilambda]

What do the Braves do at second base now? Willy Aybar? Anybody know what he's like defensively at second? Hopefully they aren't crazy enough to run Pete Orr (Mark Lemke II) or Martin Prado out there every day.

[micmillon18]

Red Sox with stick with Pedroia. They want to see if hes the prospect everyone thinks him to be. Theyve also spend a solid amount of money of others and giles probably wont come too cheap either. I'm thinking Mets or Padres considering his brother plays there but the Padres just sent Josh Barfield to the Indians.

[bravesrule14]

trilambda- they will have a platoon of Marin Prado and Kelly Johnson. they will probably start the year with Prado and move in Johnson after he fully recovers from Tommy John and he is still learning to play second, but he came up as a shortstop so it wont be too difficult

[beeniez]

MLB is reporting that the Padres were just waiting for him to be non-tendered. Saved prospects and a few million.

[desturbd1]

Reitsma could be a nice risk on an incentive-laden one year deal for somebody, Boston or anyone else. He was a candidate to close for ATL last year before his arm troubles started up.

As for Pedroia...don't worry too much about his crappy 06 numbers. Very small sample, and he was pretty unlucky. LD% of %22.5, but a terrible ba/bip of .188. (Anything under .300, per Hardball Times, is bad luck). The 7/7 k/bb looked nice, and he was making solid contact; they just weren't falling in. He'll be a solid 9-hitter.

[akirell]

I sure hope the Padres get him. I wouldn't be able to handle Giles being a Met. I despise them enough already..for Glavine AND Giles to both be there because of the Braves' payroll shortcomings would make me feel even more hateful toward the Mets.

[istravin]

If marcus comes to San Diego, he would out-produce todd walker and put up better defense. Plus I like what the giles' do in the clubhouse. Brian is one of the funniest guys I've seen in baseball. Marcus gives that extra effort every night. Mike Cameron does the same and that had noticeable impact on the team last season.
I think the pads are going to play real loose next year with Bud Black as skipper, and I think it will translate into solid production throughout the lineup. Josh Bard and Rob Bowen behind the plate are question marks, as is the health of Kouzmanoff and Khalil Greene. Another potential speed bumb is Jake Peavy continuing to pitch like an overthrowing spaz, but I think the combined influence of Maddux/Black/and maybe Boomer Wells, plus being a year older and seeing how it screwed him in the stretch run two years in a row might do the trick. He's still a spaz though. And I hate it when people dismiss it as "competitive fire". You can be competitive and not strike every guy out. It's called trusting your defense. Oh wait that's another weak spot for the pads. Sorry off topic - yeah giles to SD no doubt.

[zubes007]

"ya i remember a guy named like David Eckstein and liek he won some sotr of MVP i think it was the world series one."

Bravesrule, every time I see one of your posts...well, I am not going to make a personal attack, but lets just say that you are wrong a lot and have a very primitive knowledge of baseball and leave it at that...

Let's look at the WARP3s for each of these guys since 2004, so as to not include Giles' "fluke" 2003 when he slugged .526, and to include his fluky 2006 when he was bad.

Giles:
'04: 6.0
'05: 9.0
'06: 5.6
Total: 20.6

'04: 4.3
'05: 6.6
'06: 3.9
Total: 14.8

So basically, I juked these numbers to give YOU the best argument, and Eckstein is still 25% behind Giles.

Oh, and Giles is 2 years younger than Eckstein when he was non-tendered...and Giles has the little thing, what is it called? Oh, right...TALENT.

For all of idiots out there...ECKSTEIN IS NOT A GOOD PLAYER...HE IS MEDIOCREE!!!!!!!!!!! ONE WORLD SERIES MVP DOES NOT CHANGE THAT!!!!!!!!

So yes, Giles is the best player to be non-tendered since Papi.

[melyrules]

sorry to get "off topic", but who are the three guys at the top of the page?

[istravin]

"well, I am not going to make a personal attack, but lets just say that you are wrong a lot and have a very primitive knowledge of baseball and leave it at that"
that would be a personal attack if i ever saw one. best way to do it is just lay out the numbers, make a baseball statement and let the reader do the rest of the work for ya.
by the way, i forgot to mention that the pads' bullpen is really stacked if they don't move linebrink. I wonder if they are trying to protect themselves against Hoffman showing that he doesn't have much left.

[bravesrule14]

zubes as much as i hate to say it ur right. i usually look at the stats after i make the post. i really don't see that as a personal attack, unlike many people on this board i can take an insult without acting like someone just killed my mother. anywayz back to baseball, i actually forgot Papi was non-tendered. i bet the twins are still smarting from that. i am really glad that Reitsma is gone. i didnt hate him its just a guy who blows 15 saves i think it was can really piss u off sumtimes. i have a random, but not totally of subject question.

is Ken Ray going to start the year in Kansas City. i know we released him, but i liked him and was just wondering

[beeniez]

.280 BA, 90+ runs scored every year, above average defense, and one of the best clutch hitters in the game. I'd say Eckstein's pretty good. A World Series MVP doesn't convince you he's a good player? He out-performed Pujols, Edmonds, Verlander, Bonderman, Rolen, Rogers, Carpenter, Guillen and Ordonez when it mattered most.

I don't think Reitsma can start. He doesn't have the arsenal and I think he's a reliever because of health reasons.

[bravesbeast]

Whats up guys. First of all, I am gonna miss marcus giles, but that is baseball and you just gotta make the moves you dont want to sometimes. I really would not mind having Reitsma come back to the braves for the simple fact that he could be a good middle relief arm, but i will not be pissed if he leaves by any means. And about Ken Ray, hes in the Kansas City Bullpen and it is believed he may close for them.

[bravesrule14]

tank u for that bravesbeast. i was just wondering about him. it sucks we had to get rid of Giles, but u gotta do wat u gotta do. Reitsma i could do without, but if we sign him a minor league contract with an invite so he can battle for the spot im all for it

[allabouthephils]

"The past 3 seasons have pretty much shown us that 2003 was an anomaly,"

Not an anomaly... He was shooting needles into his ass before that... After that him and his brother lost their out of this world power production numbers.... Steroids friends... There is no other reason a guy would just fall off the face of the earth like that.....

[beeniez]

"There is no other reason a guy would just fall off the face of the earth like that....."

The league could have adjusted to him, he might be injured, he might have been out of shape, might have been a fluke, who knows? Just because a guy's power declines doesn't mean he stopped taking steriods. I think steriods are the new Red Scare.

[ejruiz777]

I'd rather non-tender these two guys than give them the millions they'd be due after arbitration. I honestly believe that both will turn things around elsewhere, but Giles would have been a $6M 8-hole hitter and Reitsma would have been a multi-million dollar middle reliever on a Braves team that has plenty of younger, cheaper options for those roles. Actually, I'm surprised that we didn't throw Marcus into the Ramirez-for-Soriano deal just to get him out of the NL; now he'll probably sign with the Pads or Mets. I think Reistma will sign with some AL contender with money to burn. All in all, these were business decisions that can't be regreted because there was no choice. We could wish we had a more liberal ownership group, but we're stuck with what we have. I wish them both all the best, especially Giles who was one of my personal favorites.

[bravesbeast]

"All in all, these were business decisions that can't be regreted because there was no choice. We could wish we had a more liberal ownership group, but we're stuck with what we have"

Our problem is that we have no ownership group, and another thing about those who think that the braves could have at least got something for giles. They really could not have, because the teams who needed giles knew that he would become a free agent any way if he was not traded, especially in the case of San diego. I know that waitint for him to become a free agent means anyone could get him, but it still is business, and i really do hope giles does find some team else where. I think alot of the reason why giles is hurting is because pitchers are pitching him inside, and he may not be quick enough to react, mainly due to injury. in 03 and 04, i got so used to seeing giles be able to drive the outside pitch to the opposite field for a double. But lately especially last year, he did not do that nearly as much, and it seemed every at bat he got the pitch he wanted, and then fouled it off to the right. If he can get back to reading pitchers and knowing what pitch to go after and take advantage of his oppo field hitting ability, he should get back to form. And i do wish him the best of luck as well. And as for the steroids thing, i highly doubt that is true because giles stance is so low to the ground he gets great leverage on the right pitch to hit it out of the park. I wish him well.

[Ganman]

come on Mets pick Gilesup

[5150bosox]

both giles bros #s have dipped since roids became headlines, what say you?

[beeniez]

Coincidence?

They still have the same build as always.

[A2000]

This has nothing to do with Giles and Reitsma being FA's, but Roto or someone help me out here. I moved in the middle of last summer and missed the rest of the Braves games unpacking etc. I was checking the Braves bullpen just now and WHERE IS KEN RAY? He was one of our best relievers last year!

[beeniez]

Ray had a terrible second half and was put on waivers. I think the Royals picked him up and will probably be in their bullpen next season.

[toshiro]

MGiles is as good as or better than any other 2B out there. He scored among the highest for second basemen. He's not a RBI guy, he's a guy who bats 1st or 2nd w/a high on base and fast runner. Not sure why he's getting bad mouthed. If I were a GM, I'd hope all the other GMs think like you guys, so I could get him for peanuts.