San Diego Padres: Adrian Gonzalez Has One More Season in Padres Uniform

The San Diego Padres are in the race for another NL West pennant. No one expected them to be leading the division at this point in the season, the first week of August, yet here they are.

They made two trades that seemed to have made the team better, bringing Miguel Tejada from Baltimore, and Ryan Ludwick from St. Louis. While the team made aggressive moves at the deadline to make sure they were in the NL West race all the way to the end, there's one thing that may be completely out of their control after the end of the 2011 season. The departure of Adrian Gonzalez.

Padre fans should be used to this by now. They've watched the face of the franchise ride off into the sunset, whether that be into retirement, free agency, or traded away right under their noses.

In June of 2001, the most famous Padre of all-time, Tony Gwynn, announced his retirement. Gwynn decided that he was at the end of his playing days, and on June 29th of that year, confirmed what we all knew.

Seven years later, in December of 2008, the San Diego Padres decided that they were not going to re-sign long time closer Trevor Hoffman, and Hoffman walked away into free agency, eventually signed by the Milwaukee Brewers. A guy Padres fans booed when he was traded to San Diego from the Florida Marlins in 1993, mainly because a fan favorite, Gary Sheffield, was being traded to Florida in the deal.

The moment Hoffman ran onto the field in his first game with San Diego, the fans didn't want anything to do with this young pitcher. Fifteen seasons and more than 500 saves later, Hoffman was the face of the franchise, right along with teammate Tony Gwynn.

With Gwynn's retirement and Hoffman going to Milwaukee, the Padres needed a new face of the franchise. They found that guy in young right-hander Jake Peavy. He brought fire and brimstone to the pitching mound. A young kid who took winning seriously and was fired up on every pitch. Fans flocked to the stadium every time he took the mound, and he became a fan favorite faster than anyone expected him to.

The only problem that Peavy came with was a fragile arm, as a lot of Padre fans found out over his final two years with the team as he spent more time on the disabled list than actually on the mound. In July of 2009, while Peavy was spending more time on the aforementioned disabled list, news came down that he had been traded to the Chicago White Sox in the very last few minutes of the trade deadline. People were shocked. Even the radio guys in San Diego didn't know what to say.

So, with Gwynn, Hoffman, and now Peavy no longer on the field for the Padres, a new face emerged in young first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

On January 6, 2006, the San Diego Padres traded pitchers Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka in return for Gonzalez, 6'10" right-hander Chris Young, and outfielder Termel Sledge. I promise you, the Rangers still regret that trade to this day. There are some Rangers fans who talk about this deal to this day.

Since January of 2006, Gonzalez has done nothing but flash Gold Glove defense at first base and flex a powerful 30-plus home run bat through his five seasons with the Padres.

Prior to the 2010 season getting underway, there were rumors flying that the Padres were getting ready to trade Gonzalez because the team wanted to get the best deal they could. The team wasn't expected to be that good, so why not make the move now?

Then, ownership changed hands from John Moores to Jeff Moorad as did the general manager position from Kevin Towers to new GM Jed Hoyer. The decision was made not to trade Gonzalez, and that decision has made all the difference in the team being where it is right now.

However, talk has started once more in San Diego that the Padres may not be able to afford Gonzalez once he hits free agency at the conclusion of the 2011 season. Most look at the All-Star first baseman as being worth what the Phillies paid Ryan Howard in his contract extension ($125 million).

The Padres don't have $125 million to throw down in a contract extension, so Gonzalez may go into the 2011 season wearing a Padres uniform for the last time. Not that anything is set in stone, but there are those in the media that believe Gonzalez will be on the trade block come next July, regardless of where the team is in the pennant race.

There will be no shortage of teams that will be after his services. You can look at the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, even NL West foes the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants that might get into the race for the first baseman. If either of those teams are willing to shell out that kind of money for Gonzalez, it will be the biggest slap in the face to the San Diego front office. They don't want to see him more than a dozen times per season, taking them apart, as he has done to so many other NL West teams over the years.

The decisions that will need to be made between now and July of 2011 will be slowly thought out and stressed about until the final decision is made.

The Adrian Gonzalez era in San Diego will be enjoyed by Padres fans until the team has no other choice but to trade him to a team that can afford to pay him what he's looking for.

Don't expect San Diego to give him away. They will look for the best possible trade before they pull the trigger. This isn't a player that can be traded for a few minor leaguers and a player to be named later. He'll bring the Padres some good talent that will benefit them for years to come.

It won't be a popular decision, but it's a decision that the Padres' front office has no other choice but to make. All they can hope for at this point is for Adrian to say that it's not about the money and that he is willing to stay in San Diego for a lot less than he'll get on the free agent market.

Until he says those words, the Padres need to start doing their due diligence this offseason, to at least gauge who will be interested come July of 2011.

Enjoy the All-Star first baseman while he's wearing a Padres' uniform, because he may not be there for long.