Red Sox claim Giles, talking trade with Padres

Hey, he's better than Lofton.

You know how this works, right?

1. The two teams can work out a trade.
2. Padres can revoke the waiver and take Giles back, after which he can't be traded this season.
3. Padres can let Giles go to the Red Sox for nothing, making them responsible for his entire remaining contract.
4. Giles can veto any of the above or place his own conditions on allowing it to go forward.

Giles has a limited trade veto clause in his contract. (He actually doesn't become a 10/5 player with full trade veto rights for another 18 days.) He's owed about $2.5 million for the rest of this season and has a $9 million club option or $3 million buyout for 2009. His contract also calls for a $2 million salary bump if he's traded — I assume that that applies to only the remaining part of the season (about 550K if so) and to 2009 if (and only if) the club option is picked up.

He could ask the Red Sox to pick up the 2009 option at $11 million in order to approve the deal. Then again, he could ask them to decline it — collect his 550K trade bonus and his $3 million buyout and go back on the free agent market.

He's posted an 815 OPS this year in Petco, one of the most difficult parks to generate any power numbers, and he's likely to do well in Fenway as a lefty gap hitter. He's 37.

11 months ago Jay Comment 13 comments 0 recs |

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Darn. There goes my secret plan to win the 2009 World Series by reuniting the 1998 Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately, the only pitchers still playing are Colon and Villone.

by FredOx on Aug 8, 2008 9:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If the circumstances justified it, could the Red Sox sending the Padres $2.5MM be a condition of the trade; i.e., can the Padres negotiate for cash consideration along with a player or two?

by fleerdon on Aug 8, 2008 10:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I doubt very much that that would be approved by the commissioner. I’m not aware of any cash being sent to a team in a trade that was greater than the salaries of the players being sent in that same direction. The most you ever see is a fringe major leaguer traded for a PTBN or “cash considerations,” generally less than 100K.

The commissioner is generally not going to let the situation develop where teams just blatantly purchase players for cash. If that sort of thing were allowed, surely the Yankees would have just been outright buying players for money a long time ago.

by Jay on Aug 8, 2008 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hadn’t considered it from that angle; I was thinking more of just the Padres wanting a player back and salary relief. But I take your point.

by fleerdon on Aug 8, 2008 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The commissioner is generally not going to let the situation develop where teams just blatantly purchase players for cash. If that sort of thing were allowed, surely the Yankees would have just been outright buying players for money a long time ago.

Teams do purchase players for cash. It is just free agency.

I assume you mean purchasing players from other teams. But one can use free agency dollars to accomplish this. Sure it is indirect, but the commissioner does not mind one bit. This is exactly how Boston got Marte in the first place. It is a very simple procedure.

1. Overpay for a medium to high quality free agent such that they will have residual value.
2. Trade them the following year for young talent by picking up a good portion of their contract.

Sure it is not immediate, but if you have enough of these guys on your roster (Boston, Detroit, NY and LA teams), you could pretty much “buy” talent every year.

Boston is the biggest user of this method (they basically bought Marte and Jason Bay). I’m surprised the Yankees don’t do this more often.

by oxforddave on Aug 8, 2008 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, that’s right — indirectly, teams buy players from other teams — just not blatantly.

The Yankees have done far more of this than the Red Sox in the past decade, no time to elaborate.

by Jay on Aug 8, 2008 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

For some reason, I thought anything over $1 million needed to be approved. I believe this was the sticking point in the ARod -> Boston trade.

If you need me, I'll be senselessly rooting for Sizemore 40/40 for the remainder of 2008.

by gte619n on Aug 11, 2008 10:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That is the rule, but there’s a difference between what requires approval and what will get approved. Most cash transfers get approved, because they more or less all involve a team covering the salary of a player they’re sending away.

by Jay on Aug 11, 2008 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs