Major League Baseball’s Delivery Man of the Year told Dan Haynes of the North County Times that he would like a three year deal from the Padres this offseason.  Bell is entering his final year of arbitration and will likely earn more than six million dollars.  A three year deal would buy out his final year of team control and extend him through 2013.  Bell would only be 35 years old in his final year of the contract.  It’s apparent that Bell loves San Diego and isn’t just looking to break the bank.

On the other hand, Bell is one of the few premium trade chips the Padres possess.  If the Padres are going to compete for a playoff spot again next year, they need to dramatically improve the offense.  The biggest needs are middle infielders and outfielders.  More specifically, run producers and table setters.  It’s no secret that the Padres had trouble driving in runs.  They need more power and run production behind Adrian Gonzalez.  Hopefully Ryan Ludwick will perform better next year than he did down the stretch.  Jed Hoyer is bullish on Ludwick and seems adamant about bringing him back for 2011.  Ryan Ludwick may move to left field and Will Venable will fill a spot in right field or possibly even CF.

The Padres need to add an offensive outfielder, preferably for center field.  The Padres were interested in Coco Crisp last offseason and he may become available if the A’s choose to decline his option.  Beyond Crisp, the free agent market looks grim for outfielders.

The Padres also need to add an offensive middle infielder and possibly even two.  Everth Cabrera has a lot of potential, but had a very disappointing year.  He may need more time in AAA.  Cabrera can play second or short depending on which position the Padres fill.  David Eckstein is a free agent and doesn’t appear to be in the plans for next year.  Jerry Hairston Jr. and Miguel Tejada are also free agents.  Both players could re-sign, but Jerry is better suited as a utility man and Tejada isn’t ideal defensively at short.

Chase Headley “The Savior” is another player that was a huge disappointment this year and who’s job could be in jeopardy.  The Padres need to upgrade several positions and Headley has had more than enough time to prove his worth.

While filling these needs, the Padres need to find at least one player that can get on base at the top of the order to set the table for Gonzalez and Ludwick.  Ideally, the Padres need a leadoff hitter and someone for the two hole.

Trading Heath Bell could be the easiest way to fill one of these voids with a young up and coming player.

There are a few young controllable center fielders we would like the Padres to go after.  First, is Brett Gardner of the Yankees. Jed Hoyer tried to acquire Gardner last offseason, and he would be the perfect fit for Petco Park.  Gardner has fantastic range in center field (career 18.2 UZR in CF) due to his blazing speed and his arm, while not great, is good enough for center field.  Gardner doesn’t hit for a super high average, but he gets on base plenty.   Gardner hit .277 .383 .379 this year with 47 stolen bases in 56 attempts.  Gardner posted a higher WAR than Adrian Gonzalez.  He would be a perfect addition to leadoff and play CF.  The Yankees are always looking to get better in any way they can and money is no object.  Kerry Wood is a free agent unless the Yankees want to pick up his eleven million dollar option.  Joba Chamberlain also had a very disappointing year in relief.  The Yankees have Gardner playing LF because of Curtis Granderson, and could look to upgrade with Carl Crawford this offseason.

The Angels are another team who could be in need of a closer.  They have CF prospect Peter Bourjos.  They may want to keep Bourjos for themselves, but they do have Tori Hunter who has several gold gloves in CF.  Bourjos has a similar skill set to Gardner, but has a bit more power.  He didn’t do well with the big league club this year (.204 .237 .381); although, he’s only 23 years old and his numbers this year in AAA were impressive (.314 .364 .498, 27 stolen bases, 13 doubles, 12 triples, 13 home runs).

There have been rumors that the Cardinals may look to move Colby Rasmus this offseason because of an awkward relationship with manager Tony LaRussa.  The latest reports indicate that LaRussa will almost certainly remain in St. Louis.  The Cardinals could use a closer, but Heath Bell alone wouldn’t be enough for Rasmus.  I wonder if they would want Ludwick back.  Even then, we would have to sweeten the deal with prospects and or money.

The Red Sox could be looking for help in the bullpen.  Papelbon didn’t have a good year, and their bullpen ranked 23^rd in ERA in baseball this year.  The Sox have Jacoby Ellsbury and youngster Ryan Kalish who may be of interest to the Padres.  According to Peter Abraham and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Jedi Hoyer and Theo Epstein discussed many trade possibilities at the deadline.  Buster Olney also reported that the Padres asked about Ellsbury before they acquired Ludwick.  Ellsbury is another established player that would fit into Petco Park perfectly.  The downside is his contracts status.  He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this year and his agent is Scott Boras.  The Sox could go with Kalish in CF making Ellsbury expendable.  If they hold on to Ellsbury, Kalish might become available for the right piece.  Kalish may not be a gold glove caliber defensive center fielder, but he’s good enough to stay there.  Kalish doesn’t do anything great, but does everything well.  He can hit for average, power, and has good plate discipline.  He steals some bases and has a good arm.  I’m not sure one of those players can be had for Bell, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind if they look to trade Adrian Gonzalez.

The Red Sox also have a couple of middle infielders the Padres could be interested in.  With Dustin Pedroia at 2B and Marco Scutaro at SS, Jed Lowrie and Yamaico Navarro could be expendable.  They both can play 2B or SS.  Lowrie has average range at short with a good arm.  He hits for average and power from both sides of the plate with good discipline.  He has been somewhat injury prone though.  He hit .287 .381 .526 this year for the big league club and appears to be ready for an everyday gig.  Navarro isn’t as heralded as Lowrie, but he has some upside.  Navarro has the tools to be a plus defender at SS.  He has above average raw power for a middle infielder, but is too aggressive at times.  He hit .275 .356 .437 this year between AA and AAA, but didn’t do too well in his September call up (.143 .174 .143).  They might prefer to keep Lowrie for SS and move Marco Scutaro.

The Rays are another team with an abundance of middle infielders.  They have Sean Rodriguez, Reid Brignac, Ben Zobrist, and Jason Bartlett who can all play at 2B or SS.  Zobrist didn’t do too well this year after signing a long term contract.  They could look to move his contract to give one of the younger guys a shot to start.  Zobrist is a great on base guy with power and speed.  He can also play several different positions.  Jason Bartlett had a down year, but he’s a career .281 .345 .385 hitter and he’s only 30 years old.  There has been some speculation that he may even be non-tendered.  Reid Brignac is probably the Rays SS going forward.  He has good power for a middle infielder and he should be able to stay at short.  Sean Rodriguez is a second baseman who can also play several positions.  Rodriguez has very good power for a middle infielder and he steals plenty of bases.  He only hit .251 .308 .397 this year in the big leagues, but he had 9 home runs and 13 stolen basis in only 343 AB’s.  It didn’t show this year in the big leagues, but Rodriguez has good plate discipline and generally sports a good OBP (career .380 OBP in MILB).  The Rays could use a closer if they lose Soriano to free agency.

The Reds have middle infielders Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier.  Brandon Phillips is occupying second, so one of them could be expendable.  Cozart can play 2B or SS and Frazier is more of a second baseman.  They both have an intriguing power/speed combination.  I’m not sure how much interest they would have in Bell and they were middle of the pack as far as bullpen ERA goes. I could also see some interest in outfielder Chris Heisey. Defense/power, right handed hitter who could profile well in Petco park possibly better than some of the Padres internal options.

Another possibility could be Japanese import Hiroyuki Nakajima.  There is a good chance he will be posted by the Seibu Lions this offseason.  Nakajima is a shortstop with a good glove and a good arm.  Some talent evaluators think he is better suited for second base in the big leagues.  He’s a good contact hitter and he uses the whole field.  He has gap power and good discipline.  Nakajima is said to be the second best hitter in Japan, and he’s only 28 years old.  Nakajima hit .314 .385 .511 with 15 stolen bases in Japan this year.  The Padres would have to put a bid in to win the rights to negotiate with Nakajima.  The winning bid likely won’t surpass 5 million.  If they win the bid and can’t come to terms on a contract, they get their money back and he can be re-posted next year.  I don’t see any reason not to put in a bid.

There has been some speculation lately that the Diamondback may look to unload the contracts of Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew.  Chris Young and Kelly Johnson may fit into that group as well.  Former GM of the Padres, Kevin Towers, is now the GM of the Diamondbacks. He recently said that he is a believer in first improving the back end of the bullpen and eventually working toward the rotation.  Pitching is priority for the DBacks this offseason and we are loaded with pitchers Towers is familiar with.  We could also send Chase Headley to the DBacks in a deal for Reynolds.  Headley, a career .296 .355 .435 hitter away from Petco Park, could be very productive playing half his games at Chase Field.  Headley would also be a defensive upgrade.  The Padres would have to add some payroll to acquire Reynolds, but he would provide some much needed power and run production behind Adrian Gonzalez.  Reynolds possesses light tower power that not even Petco Park could contain.  Reynolds average home run this year traveled 415.6 feet.  The downside to Reynolds is his strike out totals.  He’s going to challenge his strikeout record every year and he’s only average at 3B defensively.  He’s not a guy you can depend on to move a runner over or play small ball, but he does have some speed and can steal some bases.  The A’s reportedly considered offering Reynolds to the A’s for ex Padre Kevin Kouzmanoff and Vin Mazzaro.  Headley was better offensively, defensively, has a higher upside, and is cheaper than Kouzmanoff.  The DBacks also talked about a Rick Porcello for Stephen Drew swap.  I wonder if a trade centered around Simon Castro or Cory Luebke could bring Drew to San Diego.

Other less attractive options could be free agent or potential non-tender candidates Orlando Hudson, Nick Punto, J. J. Hardy, Juan Uribe, Bill Hall, Akinori Iwamura, and Ty Wiggington.  We need players up the middle and guys like Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell can bring in premium young talent.  It’s going to be an interesting offseason.  We believe the Padres can compete with or without Bell and or Gonzalez because of our pitching.  Go Padres!!!