“We have identified a need for athleticism, particularly in the outfield, when playing at PETCO Park,” said executive vice president/general manager Kevin Towers. “In signing Donavan Tate, we have acquired an excellent ballplayer and one of the premier athletes available in this year’s draft.”

Gonzalez has been rumored to be headed to the Boston Red Sox over the past couple of days as GM Theo Epstein is looking for another bat to jump start a suddenly dormant offense. The Red Sox are 2.5 games behind the AL East leading Yankees, who are 10-1 since the All-Star break. Gonzalez would provide the Red Sox with a potent bat in the middle of the lineup. He is hitting a weak .249 but he has slugged 26 homeruns and driven in 56 runs in 2009.

Gonzalez has 123 career homeruns and 381 career RBIs, which Boston would love to have him add to those totals while playing at Fenway for the remainder of the season. In 2008, prior to the deadline, the Red Sox traded away slugger Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers in a three team trade for Jason Bay from the Pirates. Bay added a potent bat to the lineup for the Red Sox stretch run and has played an important role in the team’s offense in 2009. Bay has amassed 20 homeruns and 73 RBIs in 2009 for the Sox.

The other Padre possibly on the trading block is closer Heath Bell. There are plenty of teams out there that could always use another arm in the back end of the bullpen and Bell could provide that stable arm for teams in contention. Bell has 24 saves in 25 opportunities and has accumulated a 2.06 ERA. Bell has racked up 46 strikeouts in just over 39 innings pitched. With just one blown save in 2009, Bell could stabilize the back-end of a contender’s bullpen immediately for the stretch run.

What do the San Diego Padres, the Baltimore Orioles and the World Series have common? No, the two teams have never met in the Fall Classic, and I highly doubt that this will be the year that they actually do. However, because of each of these team’s respective All-Stars, the fate of this year’s World Series was determined. Heath Bell, the closer for the San Diego Padres, gave up a sacrifice fly to outfielder Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles in the eighth inning in this year’s Midsummer Classic. That sacrifice fly gave the American League a 4-3 lead that they would eventually win by. Now, the American League team that makes the World Series, most likely not the Orioles, will have home field advantage.

I mean no disrespect to Heath Bell or Adam Jones. Both of these players are having excellent seasons and are very deserving of being named All-Stars. The problem I have is that they are playing for teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, etc. to have home field advantage in the World Series. They should be playing to showcase their talent and to give back to the people that made them All-Stars.

One debate that comes up every year about the All-Star game is whether or not every team should send a player to the Midsummer Classic. Every team sending at least one representative to the All-Star Game is a fair rule in my opinion. No matter how bad a certain team may be, someone always stands out above the rest and deserves the recognition of being named to their league’s All-Star team. Personally, I also feel the selection process is fair. Regardless of how each player is selected to his league’s team, whether the players are voted in by the fans, the other players, the managers, or they make it as injury replacements, they are deserving players that have earned a right to show off their abilities at the Midsummer Classic.

The other debate that always seems to come up is whether or not the All-Star Game should determine home field advantage for the World Series. I, for one, am completely against the fact that the winning team earns home field advantage for one of its teams in October. The All-Star Game is supposed to recognize baseball’s great players, not put them in a fierce competition against each other. Look at the Home Run Derby. It is nothing more than a fun, laid back night with eight of the greatest power hitters swinging for the fences and having a good time. Why can’t the All-Star Game itself be the same way? The reason is what it is played for. The Home Run Derby is played for fun and bragging rights. The All-Star Game itself is played to determine home field advantage for the most important series of baseball games all year.

Something that I think is forgotten is the fact that this is the All-Star Break. It is supposed to be a break from the grueling schedule of 162 games and endless traveling that every major leaguer puts in each season. Most players will enjoy this three day break on vacation or visiting family. The All-Stars spend it at the All-Star Game’s host city. There are many festivities to take in the day before and the day of the actual game that keep the All-Stars very busy with little time to actually relax. When it comes time for the All-Star Game, it is game on. Instead of a laid back, fun filled baseball game, we get a competitive game that does not showcase every selected player. This is how the managers are forced to treat this game. They are forced to play the game like they are in the middle of a pennant race, and good players are forced to ride the bench for that “just in case” situation that may arise. Personally, I would have rather seen little-known Josh Johnson of the Florida Marlins or knuckleballer Tim Wakefield pitch this year as opposed to eight closers, three for the American League and five for the National League, pitching an inning each.

What would happen if this game didn’t count for anything? Besides losing that stupid slogan that is repeatedly used every year, I think you would continue to get a competitive game showcasing all of Major League Baseball’s greatest talents. However, you would see a lot more of the talent showcased and a lot of the guys having fun, like back in little league. So I ask that instead of making “this one count,” let’s make this one fun. Let the teams earn home field advantage on their own by winning the most games throughout the whole season instead of sending one or two of their best players to try to win it. I guess the good thing about making these games count for something is the fact that we don’t have to worry about another ridiculous tie game like we did back in 2002.

Hairston was hitting .299 with 10 homeruns and 29 RBIs in 55 games with the Padres. Hairston was one of the lone bright spots on an anemic offensive team that is sitting 16.5 games out of first place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 35-46 record.

The two players acquired by San Diego are right handed pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano. Webb was a fourth round pick in 2007 of the A’s and was 7-1 with a 4.34 ERA with Triple-A Sacramento. Italiano was a second round pick of the A’s in 2005 and was 5-6 with a 5.63 ERA with Class-A Stockton.

Hairston was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 18th round of the 1999 draft but did not sign. The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted him in the third round of the 2001 draft. The D’Backs then sent him to the Padres in 2007 for Leo Rosales. Hairston went 0-for-5 with a walk in his final game with the Padres on Sunday.

The Padres have suffered through an up and down season so far in 2009 and sit 11 games out of first place behind the Dodgers in the National League West. They have a record of 27-30. The Padres have had a 10 game winning streak this season and a 10 game winning streak at home as well.

In the 2008 MLB draft the Padres selected Allan Dykstra with their first pick. Dykstra hails from Wake Forest University and was chosen with the 23rd pick in the draft. Dykstra is hitting only .203 with the Fort Wayne TinCaps with 11 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homeruns and 23 RBIs.

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