Ken Caminiti made his first All-Star Game in the strike-shortened 1994 Season, his eighth in Houston.  In a push to get younger, Caminiti was part of a 12-man trade to San Diego in the winter, and with the Padres, he embarked on the best run of his career.

Caminiti’s power game exploded (he later admitted to using PEDs), and he had his first 20-plus Home Run year, belting 26, while also batting over .300 for the first time.  His second year as a Padre was his best in Baseball, winning the MVP with career-highs in Home Runs (40), RBIs (130), and the Slash Line (.326/.408/.621).  He would also win the Silver Slugger, and defensively, he won his second straight Gold Glove, with a third following the year after.

Caminiti kept his power numbers strong, over the next two years, with seasons of 26 and 29 Home Runs, respectively.  He rejoined the Astros as a Free Agent in 1999, leaving the Padres after 121 Home Runs and a .295 Batting Average.  The Padres inducted Caminiti into their Hall of Fame in 2016.

Andy Benes began his Major League career with the San Diego Padres in 1989, a year after they took him with the First Overall Pick in the Amateur Draft.

Benes was fifth in Rookie of the Year voting, going 6-3 with a 3.51 ERA in ten Starts, and over the next five years, he was the Padres top Pitcher.  He won 15 Games in both 1991 and 1993, the latter year earning him a trip to the All-Star Game.  After struggling in 1995, Benes was traded to Seattle, and as a Padre, he won 69 Games against 75 Losses with 1,036 Strikeouts.

A First Overall Pick in 2000, Adrian Gonzalez was drafted by the Florida Marlins, but a wrist injury in the minors convinced the team that he would not become a bona fide Major League player.  Gonzalez was traded to Texas, where he eventually made the main roster, but the Rangers deemed him expendable, and he was traded to San Diego, the city he grew up in.

Gonzalez would quickly take over for the injured Ryan Klesko at First Base, and he proved the Marlins assessment wrong.  The First Baseman had 173 Hits, 24 Home Runs, and batted .304 in his first year in San Diego, and he followed that with a 30 HR, 100 RBI season in 2007.  Gonzalez was named to the All-Star Team the next three years, all of which were good power years with 36, 40, and 31 Home Runs, respectively.  

Gonzalez was also developing a keener batting eye, leading the NL in Walks (119) in 2009.  Gonzalez earned MVP votes in all three of his All-Star years, peaking with a fourth-place finish in 2010.  Defensively, Gonzalez also added two Gold Gloves to his trophy case.

At the conclusion of the 2010 Season, Gonzalez would be traded to the Red Sox for four players.  Gonzalez blasted 161 Home Runs with a .514 Slugging Percentage as a Padre.

Gene Tenace made his mark as a vital member of the Oakland Athletics three consecutive World Series wins (1972-74), but like all of their stars, he was off to another team in 1977.  For Tenace, he stayed in the state, joining San Diego as a Free Agent.

Tenace was with the Padres for four years, and while he was never a feared hitter, he was an intelligent one.  The Catcher knew how to get on base, drawing over 100 Walks in his first three years in San Diego, including leading the National League with 125 in his first year as a Padre.  Tenace had a .415 OBP that year, all the more impressive considering his Batting Average was only .233.  Within the four years as a Padre, Tenace never had an OBP lower than .392 and only batted over .250 in one of those campaigns.  Tenace did have respectable power, accumulating 68 Home Runs over his time as a Friar, and his handling of a pitching staff was incalculable.

Dealt to the Cardinals after the 1980 Season, Tenace had a .403 OBP with San Diego, a number higher than what he did in Oakland (.374).  Amazingly, he had more Walks (423) than Hits (384) as a Padre, but as Moneyball tells you, “he gets on base."