28-year old lefty swinging 1B Adrian Gonzalez finished in 4th place in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award. Gonzalez played in 160 games for the Padres last season and he was 176 of 591 (.298 avg, .904 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 31 homers and 101 RBIs. He has now played in 858 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 900 of 3,167 (.284 avg, .875 OPS) with 488 runs scored, 168 homers, 525 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Padres are considering dealing Gonzalez but they have to be careful because if he gets out of Petco Park he may start hitting 45-50 homers per year.

33-year old righty reliever Heath Bell and 22-year old righty starter Mat Latos tied for 8th in the N.L. Cy Young Award voting. Bell pitched in 67 games (0 starts) for the Padres last season and he was 6-1 with 47 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Bell has now pitched in 371 games (0 starts) in his 7 years in the majors and he is 25-20 with 91 saves, a 3.16 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. This is quite an honor for Bell as Brian Wilson (7th) was the only other reliever in the N.L. to even get a vote for this award.

Mat Latos might get one of these awards in the near future as he’s downright nasty. Latos pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Padres last season and he was 14-10 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has now pitched in 41 games (all starts) in parts of two years with the Padres and he is 18-15 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Latos is going to be a force for the Padres for quite a while.

UPDATE: (12/2/2010) - Heath Bell also tied for 25th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award with outfielder Corey Hart of the Brewers and starting pitcher Josh Johnson of the Marlins.

Padres’ manager Bud Black won the National League Manager of the Year Award over Dusty Baker by one lone vote. Black deserved to win this award as no one picked his team to contend before the year started. He led the Padres to a 90-72 record (54.6%) and they weren’t eliminated from the playoffs until the year’s last day. Black now has a career record of 317-332 (48.8%) for the Padres in his four years with them. Look for Black to coach his team up again next season.

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.