What began as an ideal scenario for Marcus Giles when he signed with his hometown Padres last December ended abruptly this week.

Giles' agent Joe Bick confirmed Wednesday that Padres general manager Kevin Towers said the club wouldn't pick up a $4 million team option on the second baseman for the 2008 season, choosing instead to buy out Giles' contract for $500,000 and grant him free agency.

Bick said the Towers told him the Padres won't try to re-sign Giles at a reduced salary.

The move came as no surprise to Giles, an El Cajon native who was limited to 71 at-bats after Aug. 1.

He believes that the Padres mismanaged his playing time when he went from starting in mid-July to a reserve role in a matter of weeks. Giles said he's looking forward to the next phase of his career.

"It's unfortunate you can't be honest with people and tell 'em the way it's going to be," said Giles, who hit .229 with four homers and 39 RBIs. "We're all adults. We can handle it. It's just unfortunate to kind of get the runaround and get lied to the whole time.

"I didn't expect to sit the bench. That's definitely not what I signed for. I'm definitely ready to move on."

Towers said the Padres got all they expected and more from Giles through early May. He was hitting .328 with 20 runs, two homers and 16 RBIs on May 6.

He began to slump, however, and Towers said the club elected to stick with Giles through the All-Star break. But on July 18, Giles -- who had lost 91 points off his average -- was benched for three days in favor of Geoff Blum and never regained his position.

"The first month (Giles) carried us," Towers said Thursday. "He had a tremendous April. But in May and June he struggled a lot. Then it went into July. At the time we were in a tight race, and Blum was a real shot in the arm. We tried to give Marcus at-bats against lefties, but after the All-Star break, with two months left, you have to go to the hot hand. Once you get into the last month it's kind of hard to take Blum out, the way he was playing."

Giles said he could have handled the news that he had lost his job. He just didn't like the way the club presented it.

"All of a sudden three days off turns into a platoon situation," Giles said. "I learned about the platoon situation from reading press clips. It's one thing to lose your job and have a guy take your job. It's just unfortunate that people were beating around the bush."

Padres right fielder Brian Giles said the Padres weren't the same without his younger brother in the lineup.

"I think it hurt us that we lost his energy," Brian said. "We never recovered that. I think he (didn't complain) out of respect for the guys in the clubhouse."

Said Marcus: "That was the only reason. It just wasn't worth it to stir something up. We were real close to going to the playoffs. I didn't want to be a distraction and I was glad I wasn't."

Bick thinks Giles' next club will be rewarded for signing the 29-year-old.

"It was a dream come true for him (to play in San Diego)," Bick said. "There were no negatives to it. For whatever reason, it just didn't work out well. But I think he'll bounce back fine, and somebody's going to benefit from him proving to people he can still play."

Said Giles: "We'll see what next year has in store, but now I know the Padres are one of teams not on the list. I haven't really thought about next year and I haven't really thought about this year. I'm just glad that's it over, to be honest."

Contact staff writer Dan Hayes at dhayes@nctimes.com.