Joel Reuter over at Bleacher Report has his list of the top 10 players in Padres history. I'll let you go and check it out to see what you think. Here's a preview, Adrian Gonzalez comes in at #5. Go read it and come back.
So... This got me to thinking. This is not a great list of players. It includes Phil Nevin and Ryan Klesko, which I'd have trouble arguing against, but at the same time, I feel a little bit ashamed for including. It includes two Hall of Famers (with one pending in Trevor Hoffman). It includes 3 out of our 4 number retirees. Steve Garvey is left completely off, without even an honorable mention.
In any case, considering the fact that Adrian Gonzalez is number five, and would likely be in the top five of anybody's top Padres list, consider this question: Would you retire his number when the time came?
Statistically, he's the best first baseman we've ever had. If he even comes close to continuing his career pace in 2010, he'll be right up there among our best hitters (Tony Gwynn being an outlier).
So a couple points of discussion:
1. Who is in your top 10?
2. Do you retire Adrian Gonzalez's number?