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."

Andy Ashby was traded during his third Major League Season from the expansion Colorado Rockies in 1993 to San Diego, and it was as a Padre where Ashby shone brightest.

The Righthanded Pitcher, who arrived as the "player to be named later," finished off '93 better than in Colorado, though considering he had an 8.50 ERA with the Rockies, that did not say much.  Ashby was much better in 1994 (6-11, 3.40 ERA), but in 1995, he cemented himself as a valuable part of the Padres staff, with a 12-10 Record and a 2.94 ERA.

Ashby had respectable years in 1996 and 1997 but broke out with All-Star seasons in 1998 and 1999 and was undoubtedly the staff ace.  These two years landed Ashby so high on this list, but it also led to his trade, as the small market Padres traded him to the Phillies before the 2000 Season.

Ashby had a 70-62 Record and 829 Strikeouts with the Padres.

Randy Jones might be one of the most unexpected and forgotten Cy Young winners in history, but this was not a one-season wonder, as many might misremember. 

Jones broke in the Majors with the Padres in 1973, going 7-6, but his sophomore year was abysmal.  While it was evident that Jones had talent, San Diego was not very good, and he lost a league-leading 22 Games against only 8 Wins and a 4.45 ERA.  He remained on the rotation going into 1975, and while the Padres brass knew the potential was there, what Jones put forth had to feel like it came out of the sky.

Jones' 1975 campaign saw the lefthander lead the NL in ERA (2.24) and ERA+ (156) and was second to the legendary Tom Seaver for the Cy Young.  He had an even better 1976, leading the league in Wins (22), Complete Games (25), Innings Pitched (25), and WHIP (1.027) with a healthy ERA of 2.74.  That year, Jones won the Cy Young, becoming the first Padre to win a major individual award.

Jones might not have been able to have another monster year, as he was up and down over the next four years, never regaining an All-Star form but remaining a serviceable starter.  He was traded to the Mets after the 1980 Season, and while Jones had a losing record with San Diego (92-105), he was an integral part of the growth of the franchise.

In 1999, the Padres enshrined Jones into their inaugural Hall of Fame Class two years after they retired his number 37.