San Diegos Padres Trade Rumors: Heath Bell Certain He's Headed to Texas?

The trade rumors continue to swirl around the last place San Diego Padres.

Names mentioned include relief pitchers Heath Bell and Mike Adams, starting pitcher Aaron Harang and outfielder Ryan Ludwick.

Bell joked around with the media this week, claiming that he was certain he would be traded to the Texas Rangers.

“My parents are flying in from Texas tomorrow to spend 10 days with us,” said Bell. “It just figures. I’m going to be in Texas.”

It was reported that the Padres would receive a package of players from Texas in exchange for Bell, including 20-year-old left-handed pitching prospect Robbie Erlin.

At class A+ Myrtle Beach, Erlin was 3-2 with a 2.14 ERA. He allowed only 25 hits in 54 and two-thirds innings. After he was promoted to AA Frisco, he won five games and lost two with a high 4.37 ERA. He has yielded 66 hits in 59 and two-thirds innings.

Bell is almost 100 percent certain that he is gone.

“What’s that DNA level for conviction, 99.9 percent, that’s where my agent and I are on my being-gone scale,” said Bell.

A critical factor is that Bell told ESPN at the All-Star game that he would be willing to be a set-up for the rest of this season. He will be a free agent and would resume his closer’s role next season.

The St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have expressed interest in Bell. However, the Cardinals recently acquired bullpen help in Mark Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel, which probably put an end to their pursuit of Bell.

Brad Lidge is making yet another comeback with the Phillies, which leaves the Angels.

Left fielder Ryan Ludwick is being pursued in varying degrees by the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians.

The 32-year-old Ludwick, who was supposed to provide the needed offense to last year’s Padres but disappointed at .211/.301/.333 and he's not doing much better this year—batting .238/.302/.373 with only 11 home runs.

The Atlanta Braves are an offensively challenged team. Their outfield of Jason Heywood, Nate McLouth and Martin Prado has underachieved—partially due to injuries—and they need outfield help.

The fact that they consider Ludwick an upgrade reveals how desperately they need to improve their offense.

The same could be said for the Reds, who have all but dropped out of playoff contention.

The Padres need all the young help that they can get. This season has been a terrible disappointment, even though few believed they had a realistic chance of winning the division. The wild card, however, was once a possibility.

The next few days are going to fascinating, but not as fascinating as the Padres' management’s attempts to improve the team.