A discussion, narrated by Intern Bill.

So the Boston Red Sox were negotiating to acquire Padres OF Brian Giles. At 37, Giles, is on the downside of his career, yet still productive. What’s most notable about this negotiation, however, is that on his blog, Padres special assistant GM Paul DePodesta said that the Padres were leaning towards keeping Giles because of the intangibles he brings to the table:

The second reason [for keeping Giles], and the more important one, is very simply that Brian is the type of player we want our young position players to emulate. It’s one thing for us or our coaches to try to explain our philosophy, but it’s quite another, and much more powerful, to have a working example… Brian also brings a number of intangibles to our team. First and foremost, Brian plays hard and plays through pain. Before banging his knee into the wall last season he had played in at least 158 games for three consecutive seasons. He wants to be on the field, and he wants to win. As many of you know, Brian is also a bit, how shall I say, irreverent in the clubhouse, [link added] which is incredibly helpful over the course of a long season… that leadership role could positively impact the Padres in 2008, 2009, and well beyond.

Amazingly [Ed. To us!], Giles rejected the deal today, reports Buster Olney.

So what are intangibles worth? Discuss.