Adrian Gonzalez is as good as gone

We all looked kind of silly last winter assuming that Adrian Gonzalez was going to be traded. We never took into account the possibility that the Padres could, you know, win some ballgames. But win they did, and it took Gonzalez right out of the trade speculation pool before the weather got hot. What’s more, the Padres success had some people thinking that maybe the club could find a way to keep the hometown hero in the fold after all.

Yeah, about that:

The agent for Adrian Gonzalez says it’s “pretty much a fait accompli” that the Padres slugger will test the free-agent market after the 2011 season . . . [Gonzalez’s agent] says he’ll seek market value for the three-time All-Star and doesn’t anticipate the Padres veering from their financial structure.

Maybe this all talk, though, and the Padres feel differently about the possibility of signing their stud. Jed Hoyer?

Hoyer says the type of contract Gonzalez will seek in free agency is something that only a handful of markets can support, “and San Diego is not one of them.” Hoyer says it doesn’t make sense to make an offer that doesn’t come close to what Gonzalez would want.

Well then.

If the agent says the guy is going to test the market and seek top dollar, and the GM says the team can’t afford him, doesn’t that put us right back into “the Padres are going to trade Adrian Gonzalez” territory? And with him making an insanely low $5.5 million this year, wouldn’t it make him a highly sought after commodity? If you’re in he market for a corner bat, how are you not banging down Jed Hoyer’s door right now?

And if you’re Jed Hoyer, can you really just decide to hold on and wait for the 2012 draft picks? Don’t you have to see if you can’t do better?