What happened to Marcus Giles?

After his recent release, this question has been bounced around the boards and the media. Answer: Well, he didn’t hit. Outside of that simplification, I come to conclusion that most do, that being Petco ate him up.

Take the following team splits into account:Batting:Home: .688 OPS (16th in NL)Road: .772 OPS (4th in NL)Pitching:Home: 278 Runs Allowed (1st in NL by 77 Runs!!!)Road: 388 Runs Allowed (9th in NL)The acquisition of Giles, strangely enough, in the long term could prove to be a good move for the Padres. Getting a hold of Marcus allowed to the Padres to trade Josh Barfield in return for Kevin Kouzmanoff. Barfield had some decent looking stats in 2006, yet he did not fit the mold of a Petco player (due to his lack of plate discipline) .

While it may have taken Kouz a while to get going, it seemed like he finally began to figure out Petco towards the end of the season. And that’s no small feat. Even the Padres best hitter Adrian Gonzalez had some crazy splits, a .266 BA & a .760 OPS at home vs. a .290 BA & .928 OPS on the road. Kouz did have a big time drop off in OPS at home (.743) vs the road (.824) but he worked his way to a better average by three points at home at .276. Couple this with his .890 second half OPS & Kouz looks like he could be a good Petco hitter.On the surface, Petco appeared to be a good fit for Marcus, as he was primarily a doubles hitter that also knocked out about 15 a year. This didn’t come to fruition, as the ballpark clearly makes hitters change their approach at the plate and he wasn’t able to adjust.Many cite Marcus’ brother, Brian, as being a typical 2000’s juice player when explaining his big time production drop when moving to San Diego. From where I sit, this clearly wasn’t the case. Post trade, Giles did see a decline in his HR numbers. The doubles and BB’s stayed the relatively the same, showcasing an overall adjust to his philosophy at the plate. If you go and break down the tape, you will also see a noticeable difference in his swing, as the uppercutting motion is toned down from his days in Pittsburgh & Cleveland.

The trick for the Padres in the future becomes finding players that can hit at home. Does a pre-set formula exist? When looking at the stats, all hitting across the board is down, from singles to home runs. Maybe switching to a walk & speed oriented game would be the ticket at 2nd. For the most part, these players can be acquired on the cheap with the premium on power in today’s market.