Moving a player like Heath Bell, hell, any player at this point scares me. It's because I have no idea why this team continues to win. I don't know if anybody can say definitively why they've been so successful. It's a puzzle and the team seems to be held together by chewing gum and dental floss.
Losing Bell might throw off team chemistry and send the team into a tail spin. It's like we're playing a game of Jenga and I don't want to make of the fear that everything will collapse.
But officials of two different teams told Rumblings this week they could see the Padres trading Heath Bell even if they stay in the race.
"Bell is a lot easier to move than Gonzalez," said one. "I don't see why [Mike] Adams can't close, and just move everyone else up one spot. They've got plenty of arms out there."
Bell said recently that he hasn't been able to put those 1-2-3 innings like his bullpen teammates Mike Adams and Luke Gregerson and it might because he doesn't have the same anger fueling his performance. His anger in years past he vaguely says was related to his home life.
"I've always pitched with anger and aggression," Bell says. "I don't have that anger and aggression anymore this year, so it's a little bit different. I want to make sure I am still going to be that dominant pitcher that I knew could be."