Despite being 49-33 and leading the N.L. West, the Padres only will have one All-Star. 1B Adrian Gonzalez has played in 80 games for the Padres this season and he is 86 of 296 (.291 avg, .902 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 16 homers and 51 RBIs. It continues to amaze me that teams keep pitching to Gonzalez who is the only legit threat in the Padres’ lineup. Gonzalez will be making his third All-Star Game of his career. It is stunning that the team with the best pitching staff in all of baseball won’t have a representative in the All-Star Game.

UPDATE: (7/7/2010) - Padres’ closer Heath Bell has been named to his second All-Star Game to replace the injured Yovani Gallardo. Bell has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Padres this year and he is 4-0 with 23 saves, a 1.72 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has whiffed 49 batters in only 36 2/3 innings this season showing how nasty he has been. Bell deserved this honor so he’s not really a “replacement”.

27-year old lefty swinging 1B Adrian Gonzalez finished 12th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award. Gonzalez played in 160 games for the Padres last season and he was 153 for 552 (.277 avg, .958 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 40 homers and 99 RBIs. Gonzalez has now played six years in the majors and he is 724 for 2,576 (.281 avg, .869 OPS) with 401 runs scored, 137 homers and 424 RBIs. The Padres should absolutely not trade Gonzalez as they should build a lineup around him.

Bud Black did a solid job as the manager of the Padres last season leading the team to a 75-87 (46.6%) record. It seems to me that Black got his vote(s) from San Diego’s writers. Still, he deserved the recognition because of the improvement the team showed in the second half of the year. He has now been the manager of the Padres for 3 years compiling a 227-260 record (46.6%). Hopefully the front office of the Padres shows patience in allowing Black to remain the manager for a while because he gets the most out of his players.

23-year old switch hitting shortstop Everth Cabrera was tied for 8th in the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting with Dexter Fowler (Rockies), Gerardo Parra (Diamondbacks) and Colby Rasmus (Cardinals). Cabrera played in 103 games for the Padres last season and he was 96 for 377 (.255 avg, .703 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 2 homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Cabrera has come a long way since last winter when the Padres picked him in the Rule 5 Draft. He is penciled in as the starting shortstop for the 2010 season and beyond for the Padres as they really like him.