27-year old lefty swinging 1B Adrian Gonzalez and 28-year old righty swinging 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff have been the guys that have produced by far the most with the bat for the Padres this season. Gonzalez has been a absolute beast this season for the Padres as he has played in 130 games this season in which he is 123 for 449 (.274 avg, .961 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 34 homers and 77 RBIs. The amazing thing about Gonzalez this season is that only 43 of his RBIs this season were not knocking himself in which shows how poorly the top of the lineup has been for the Padres this season. Even though teams have been trying to trade for Gonzalez the Padres should absolutely resist the temptation as he should be one of the players the team rebuilds around. Kevin Kouzmanoff has provided protection for Gonzalez in the lineup lately and it has helped him excel. Kouzmanoff has played in 129 games for the Padres this season and he is 124 for 483 (.257 avg, .724 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 16 homers and 76 RBIs. The fact that he has only scored 45 runs this season with 16 of them by his own doing shows how putrid the bottom of the lineup has been for the Padres this year. The Padres absolutely have to keep both Gonzalez and Kouzmanoff and build the offense around them.

29-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Correia has been effective this season for the Padres. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could be moved some time today in a trade with a team that needs help in the rotation. Still, he has pitched well for the Padres in his first season of extended starting. He has started 27 games for the Padres this season and he is 9-10 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. The Padres should think long and hard about keeping Correia for the rest of this season and down the road.

The Padres have re-signed 34-year old 2B David Eckstein to a 1-year, $1 million dollar deal for the 2010 season. Eckstein has played in 106 games for the Padres this season and he is 100 for 388 (.258 avg, .646 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 1 homer, 41 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Eckstein has now played in 1,165 games in his major league career and he is 1,265 for 4,484 (.282 avg, .706 OPS) with 631 runs scored, 33 homers, 353 RBIs and 114 stolen bases. The rebuilding Padres love having Eckstein around as he is a leader by example.

The Padres have signed 30-year old righty reliever Rock Cherry to a minor league deal. Cherry has pitched in 41 games (1 start) in the minors this season and he was 3-2 with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Cherry has also pitched in 40 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 1-4 with 1 save, a 5.77 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Cherry has always had a good arm so it will be interesting to see if manager Bud Black can teach him how to pitch. This was a good low risk/high reward gamble for the Padres.

The Padres have traded 30-year old righty reliever Scott Patterson to the A’s for some cash. Patterson has pitched in 54 games (0 starts) in AAA ball for the Padres this season and he was 3-3 with 1 save, a 4.07 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Patterson did whiff 67 batters in only 59 2/3 innings in this minors this season but he did walk 40 batters and that is just not acceptable. The Padres won’t likely miss Patterson in the future.