Bell’s value should be reasonably high right now, and a closer isn’t going to make that much difference on a team that I think will still be sub-.500. They shouldn’t dump him (i.e. move him for anything just to be rid of his salary), but if they get something decent back he should be moved.

I’m just not sure what you want in return. We had a whole smorgasbord of young arms to work through now and at least 1 incumbant starter with either potential, star power (Adrian) or leadership (Eckstein). I guess you could trade for a solid major league catcher or a top catching prospect. Or maybe a CF (although that would anger a lot of TGJr fans out there). But I don’t see teams giving those up for Bell.

is if you get something good back for him or if he’s part of a deal for a good player.

Closers on a sub .500 team aren’t a needed part, but they don’t grow on trees (see the Phillies)

I don’t see a pressing need to get rid of any of our “big money” guys. After all, our “big money” guys are considerably cheaper than most, and with the young talent we have already brought up, we have a pretty decent foundation of youth to build upon. there are a couple of areas we could spend money, but there should be enough money around to make that happen without any major sacrifices.
Oh, and call me Pollyanna, but I can reasonably see this team being above .500 next year.

(I probably showed my age a little with that Pollyanna reference, didn’t I?)

and it has been since June of 09.