Padres Having Difficulty Trading Away Heath Bell

Here’s how Sunday has proceeded. First, from Rosenthal:

And second, from Joe Strauss:

But Jim Bowden reports that talks aren’t going as smoothly as some figured they might:

Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. The fit is so good that the Padres might be trying to extract every last bit that they can from Texas before reaching an agreement. The deadline, after all, is still two days away, so it’s not like San Diego is in a rush. The pressure’s on Texas, as they have a need, and other teams are interested in Bell as well. I’m sure they’re trying to hold their ground, but they may have to sacrifice more than they want in order to get something done.

The Phillies are not the only team in pursuit of these guys, but - at least according to Sherman - they’re evidently one of fewer than the Padres expected, at least so far. But things have a way of developing awful fast as the deadline sneaks up.

Certainly a team could come with a blowaway offer, but Padres owner Jeff Moorad last week personally told Adams “you’re not going anywhere,” according to a team source.That must be comforting for Adams. Except according to Marty Caswell of XX1090 Sports Radio, it’s news to Adams that he won’t be traded:

Contrary to a report by Yahoo Sports, Mike Adams says he has NOT been told by Padres owner Jeff Moorad that he won’t be tradedAwkward. The next update will be on how Moorad either:

Here’s the trio, in order of how much it would cost in prospects, from “top prospects” to “organizational guy”:

If the Phillies want to part with a prospect like Jarred Cosart or Jonathan Singleton, the Padres will listen. If they don’t want to part with someone like that, the Qualls route should be a lot cheaper.