Kuzul

It’s almost time for pitchers and catchers to report to their spring training cites. This means the men who each team count on to secure a win will be reporting. In the last inning in a close game, the team’s manager calls on his best bullpen pitcher to come into the game and shut the door. The closers role is one of the most important roles on a baseball team. Let us countdown the Top 10.

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Winning a major baseball award is typically a big step towards fame, riches and potentially a place in the MLB Hall of Fame. But not every MVP, ROY, Cy Young or Rolaids Relief award winner is destined for greatness. Some of them simply become trade bait.

With the baseball off-season wrapping up and Spring Training just around the corner, here’s a look at 10 major award winners who could be changing teams this year.

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It happens every year. One team has unreasonably high expectations for their team, signs a couple of free agents, and when they fail to meet their goals, they become sellers at the trade deadline.

Need an example? How about last year’s Seattle Mariners. In theory, Cliff Lee would have been great if they had an offense. However, their lack of success forced them to trade Lee to the Rangers, a team better suited for Lee.

On the other side, there are always buyers at the trade deadline. Maybe a team doesn’t expect to be in playoff contention in July, however now that they are, they need one more player to piece together the puzzle and put them over the edge.

A good example is the Milwaukee Brewers of 2008. It was their acquisition of CC Sabathia that helped them reach the playoffs through the wild card. 

Another common way for players to switch teams midseason is by under performing. By August, if a team is not content with the way one of their players is playing, they have to option to put him on waivers. 

An example of this is the Alex Rios scenario of 2009. The Blue Jays, unhappy with Rios, placed Rios on waivers, where the White Sox picked him up. His .199 batting average in 2009 with the White Sox probably made the Blue Jays happy they let him go.

There are many other reasons that a player is moved during the season—  these are just the main ones. In this article, I will speculate as to which players I believe will be moved in 2011.

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If in 2006, you told the New York Mets that they held two of the future’s top closers in their grasp in Heath Bell and Billy Wagner, they would have questioned your sanity. In a season that the Mets fought their way to the NLCS and watched Wagner, Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, and Duaner Sanchez each excel in their assigned roles, why would they even consider Bell, who appeared in just 22 games and posted an ERA above five, one of their bullpen’s best?

After three seasons, they had seen enough.

On November 15, 2006, the 28 year old Bell was traded, along with fellow reliever, Royce Ring, to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Ben Johnson and reliever Jon Adkins. The Mets saw little return out of their haul, as Johnson would appear in nine games, and Adkins would appear in just one. The Padres‘ gamble, on the other hand, paid immediate dividends. Bell adjusted well to his new role with San Diego, posting a record of 6-4 to go along with an ERA of 2.02.

Needless to say, the Padres were impressed. The following season, they promoted him to the eighth inning role, setting up the ninth inning for legendary closer, Trevor Hoffman. He excelled in this role as well, appearing in more than 70 gamed for the second straight season and posting a record of 6-6 and an ERA of 3.58 for a Padres team that struggled.

The next season, the long time Padre, Hoffman, signed on as the closer for the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Padres were left with a gap in their own bullpen. Instead of scouring the free agent market and paying top dollar for a closer to play for a team that wasn’t expected to compete, the team handed Bell the job. He thrived as the team’s closer, striking out more than ten batters per nine innings and converting a league leading 42 saves, to go with an ERA of 2.71. In 2010, his second year as the team’s closer, Bell was practically untouchable. The opposition hit just .221 against him, as he punched out more than 11 batters per nine innings and allowed just one home run over the course of the entire season, posting an ERA of just 1.93, and Bill James, stat projection extraordinaire, expects much of the same out of Bell in 2011.

So why is now the time to trade Heath Bell?

There are a couple of reasons, but for the Padres, the main reason is money. Because he broke into the major leagues at an older age, Bell has been providing the Padres’ with maximum value over the last few seasons. Since joining the Padres in 2007, Bell has cost the Padres just $6.06 million, while logging 251.1 innings, converting 91 saves, and posting an ERA of 2.56 over that same period of time. However, after a season that saw him dominate the National League in the ninth inning yet again, Bell is about to earn a hefty raise in his final year of arbitration. Though a price tag of somewhere between $6-10 million is reasonable for a closer of Bell’s caliber, the Padres may find that a little rich for their blood over the course of the season.

The second reason is Bell’s looming free agency. Even if he has a mediocre season in 2011, his track record as the Padres’ closer should effectively price them out of their range. Though 2010 was a difficult off-season to project a closer’s price tag, with Rafael Soriano yet to sign and Mariano Rivera’s true value hidden, thanks to his Yankee loyalty, the 2012 free agent market is filled to the brim with closers, including players like Jonathon Broxton, Matt Capps, Francisco Cordero, Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Jonathon Papelbon, Francisco Rodriguez, Koji Uehara, and Jose Valverde, but Bell may be the best of the bunch.

So how can we determine his value? In 2009, the best available closer was Jose Valverde of the Houston Astros. He converted just 25 saves in 54 innings, for the Astros in 2009, to go along with an ERA of 2.33. Eventually, he would sign with the Detroit Tigers for two years and $14 million. Valverde, like Soriano in 2010, was plagued by a weak market for closers, with a limited number of suitors. Bell will be able to fetch much more than $7 million a year, and with his track record of health and performance, should receive more guaranteed years as well.

One contract he’ll certainly look to surpass is the three year, $37.5 million deal that Brad Lidge signed with the Philadelphia Phillies during his perfect season in 2008. With Bell’s track record, he should have no trouble earning at the very least, four years, $48 million on the open market, with teams like the Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets all potentially in need of a closer. Once again, he will be way out of the Padres’ price range.

The third main reason the Padres should look to deal Bell now is the return they would receive, in prospects, for a full season of the closer. In the past, teams have been reluctant to trade top prospects for a closer before a season begins, due in large part to the streaky tendencies of the reliever in general. That shouldn’t be a concern for teams acquiring Bell. In years past, top closers have fetched at least one top prospect. When the Phillies acquired Lidge in the 2007 off-season, they traded talented outfielder, Michael Bourn. The Cubs sent talented pitcher, Jose Ceda, to the Marlins for Kevin Gregg, the Dodgers acquired George Sherrill from the Orioles for Josh Bell, and the Twins sent top catching prospect, Wilson Ramos, to the Nationals for Matt Capps.

For a full season of Bell, the Padres are in a position to demand two top prospects for their dominant closer, and may have potential suitors waiting on their doorstep in the American League. Two teams that were heavily involved in the Cliff Lee bidding, the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, could both benefit from Bell’s services, and have the prospects to make it happen. Despite having Mariano Rivera, the Yankees were rumored to be interested in Rafael Soriano this off-season, wanting to shore up their bullpen, since the starting pitching market was weak, after Lee. They’ve been dangling top prospect, Jesus Montero, for quite some time now, and could create an enticing package to offer the Padres. The Rangers are in much of the same boat. Without Lee, their rotation could use a boost from their 2010 closer, Neftali Feliz, and after failing to acquire Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays, they could trade for Bell and move Feliz into the rotation.

A number of other teams could also be interested in Bell’s services, including the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who are assumed to be Soriano’s last real suitor. The price, in prospects, may be enough to drive them away, however, as San Diego would certainly love to have top prospect, Mike Trout. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Florida Marlins could all use Bell, in different ways, and those are just a number of his suitors.

Using his performance, future price, and potential return in prospects as their reasoning, the Padres would have no trouble finding a suitor for Bell. Even still, there are reasons why they would be reluctant to move him as well. The first of those reasons is the depth in their bullpen beginning to dwindle. The bullpen was their strongest leg in 2010, and they’ve been trading from it’s depth all off-season. In November, they acquired outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Marlins for relievers Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb, and in December, they traded relievers Adam Russell and Cesar Ramos as part of a package to the Rays for shortstop, Jason Bartlett. Though they’ve signed relievers like Luis Perdomo and Dustin Moseley, they aren’t of the same quality.

Trading Bell, their best reliever, may be akin to shooting themselves in the foot. On one hand, if the Padres hope to contend in the NL West this season, they’ll need Bell’s services. On the other hand, if they don’t move Bell now or before the trade deadline, they will have lost the chance to add to their farm system.

If the Padres are convinved they can win this season, they will have one shot to win the World Series with Bell as their closer, before he likely skips town and heads to the highest bidder in the following off-season. If they decide to go into a small rebuilding season in 2011, they could move Bell for top prospects, and use last season’s set-up man, Luke Gregerson, as the closer. In 2010, he posted a record of 4-7 with an ERA of 3.22 (2.86 FIP), and used much of the same motive as Bell, striking out more than ten batters per nine innings while walking just over two. If the Padres decide that Gregerson is ready to become the next Heath Bell, moving the interim closer may be an easier decision.

The hardest thing for any team to do, however, is trade a fan favorite. After already having moved the face of the Padres, Adrian Gonzalez, earlier in the off-season, General Manager Jed Hoyer would have a tough time selling a Bell deal to a tough fan base. Sometimes, a general manager just has to close his eyes and pull the trigger. While it may be tough to trade a fan favorite now, it could reap huge rewards in the future.

Unless the Padres go on an unbelievable run and are running away with the division by the trade deadline, Bell’s days in San Diego seem numbered. The Padres would be foolish to let him leave as a free agent this off-season (with draft compensation up in the air as the league reconfigures it’s collective bargaining agreement), when they can add several quality pieces much closer to  being major league ready with a trade. They have the option of waiting until the trade deadline until teams are desperate, but there are desperate teams out there now.

It’s time for the Padres to cash in on Heath Bell.

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MLB trade rumors never go away, even when things on the baseball front quiet down around the holidays, as is usually the case.

We’ve seen some pretty big free agent signings this offseason, chief among them being Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee. There have also been some big trades, such as the Adrian Gonzalez and Zack Greinke deals.

But spring training is still many moons away and there is still plenty of time for GMs around baseball to work out some last-minute deals.

With that in mind, here are 15 players who could be dealt before spring training starts.

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Some people prefer to wait until late in their draft to acquire their fantasy closers, figuring that you can take some risks while also finding saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. 

Others like to use early- to mid-round picks in order to get an elite closer or two, hopefully stabilizing their standing in saves.  Which strategy is right is a debate for another day, but let’s look at how I currently rank the Top 15 closers heading into 2011:

1. Heath Bell – San Diego Padres
2. Brian Wilson – San Francisco Giants
3. Joakim Soria – Kansas City Royals
4. Neftali Feliz – Texas Rangers
5. Mariano Rivera – New York Yankees
6. Rafael Soriano – Free Agent
7. Jonathan Broxton – Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Andrew Bailey – Oakland Athletics
9. Jonathan Papelbon – Boston Red Sox
10. Francisco Rodriguez – New York Mets
11. Carlos Marmol – Chicago Cubs
12. Joe Nathan – Minnesota Twins
13. Huston Street – Colorado Rockies
14. Jose Valverde – Detroit Tigers
15. J.J. Putz – Arizona Diamondbacks

Thoughts:

• Joe Nathan is a real wild card, but we all know what he is capable of doing. If he proves that he is healthy in Spring Training, he could easily perform as a top 10, and maybe even a top 5 option. Since 2004 he has had one season with an ERA above 2.10 and one season with a WHIP above 0.98. To say that he has the potential to be one of the elite and a steal on draft day is an understatement.
• Will the Rangers move Feliz to the rotation? I can’t see it after his success, but time will tell at this point.
• J.J. Putz will get an opportunity to rediscover his glory as a closer in Arizona. As long as he keeps his control in under (as he did in 2010), he should be a solid option as a second closer for fantasy owners.
• Mariano Rivera is the best closer ever to play the game, we all know that. At this point, is anyone really waiting for him to finally regress due to his age? He’s one of the elite and he should be considered as such until he finally decides to hang up his spikes.
• If you draft Jonathan Papelbon, you may want to grab Daniel Bard for your bench, just in case. I know Bobby Jenks was brought in, but Bard is still the likely replacement should something happen.
• If it wasn’t for his strikeout potential, I wouldn’t go near Carlos Marmol. However, he could easily lead all relief pitchers in strikeouts, which certainly helps to offset any potential problems his walk rate brings with him.

What are your thoughts on these rankings?  Whose too high?  Whose too low?

**** Make sure to pre-order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here. ****

Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:

• Top 15 Catchers
• Top 15 First Basemen
• Top 15 Second Basemen
• Top 15 Third Basemen
• Top 15 Shortstops
• Top 20 Starting Pitchers
• 2011 Fantasy Draft First-Round Breakdown

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What would an offseason be without the San Diego Padres at least entertaining the thought of trading one of their better players? In an interview with XX1090 Sports Radio, Padres’ GM Jed Hoyer said he would listen to offers for star players Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell. No shock there.

I could certainly see why he would listen to offers for both players. There is very little chance the Padres will lock up Gonzalez long term, so why not get something for him before he walks. With Bell the Padres have two potential closers in Luke Gregerson and Mike Adams, so why pay Bell when they can spend that money elsewhere?

If the Padres are going to listen to offers for someone like Bell, let’s take a gander at his trade market. Here are the pros, cons and potential landing spots for the guy who won’t be sending pitching coach Rick Peterson a Christmas card anytime soon.

Pros

There are a lot of good things you can say about Bell, who can stake a claim at being the premier closer in the National League.

Over the last three years, Bell has seen his:

• ERA decrease each year (3.58 to 2.71 to 1.93).
• HR/9 decrease each year (0.58 to 0.39 to 0.13).
• K/9 increase each year (8.2/9 to 10.2/9 to 11/9).
• WAR increase each year (0.9 to 2.0 to 2.4)

That’s a pretty lethal combination for any pitcher to have. Bell has gotten better by the year, and at the age of 33, doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all.

Now a lot of people will point to pitching at Petco Park as the reason for Bell’s success. While the large dimensions certainly help, Bell’s success is not entirely tied to pitching at Petco.

As a matter of fact, Bell had better numbers on the road in 2010 than he did at home. Bell’s ERA was lower on the road (1.59 to 2.25), his batting average against was lower on the road (.213 to .229) and his OPS against was lower on the road as well (.576 to .594).

Bell is also extremely durable and has never been on the DL in his career. That is a pretty impressive track record for any pitcher.

Cons

There aren’t a lot of negative things to say about Bell. If we are going to nitpick, Bell saw his BB/9 rise to 3.6 in 2010, which was the highest of his career.

Bell also has had the luxury of pitching in the offensively challenged NL West for the past four years. Pitching against those lineups is a lot easier than pitching against American League lineups on a consistent basis.

The last con is Bell’s contract. Bell is a third-time arbitration eligible player. He made $4 million in 2010 and figures to make between $7-$8 million in 2011.

While $7-$8 million isn’t an exorbitant amount for a top flight closer considering some of the contracts we have seen recently, that type of contract eliminates a lot of teams as potential trade partners for the Padres.

Now that we have seen the pros and cons of Bell, let’s see who might be interested in the Oceanside, CA native.

Atlanta Braves

Billy Wagner has retired and now the Braves have an opening at the closer position. I personally think Craig Kimbrel is ready for the job, but if the Braves don’t think so, Bell could be a possibility.

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks desperately need bullpen help and there is a connection there now that former Padres GM Kevin Towers is now in Arizona. However, I am not sure the Padres will trade Bell within the division.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays realized the value of having a top flight closer with Rafael Soriano this past season. Soriano is a free agent and the Rays could replace him with Bell.

Chicago White Sox

It’s no secret that the White Sox’s patience with Bobby Jenks is thin and there is a possibility that he might not be tendered a contract for 2011. The White Sox do have Matt Thornton waiting in the wings, but Bell could be a possibility if they don’t bring Jenks back.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Angels sent Brian Fuentes to the Minnesota Twins at the end of the 2010 season and now have Fernando Rodney penciled in to be the closer in 2011. I can’t take a team seriously that has Rodney as their closer. Bell would be a massive upgrade for the Angels.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Every year, managers, coaches and writers from around Major League Baseball award honors and trophies to the players—and every year, they screw up.

So Bleacher Report’s featured columnists decided to do it ourselves. Instead of just complaining about the awards as they were announced as we would normally do on our own, we teamed up to hold our own mock awards vote.

This week, we looked at the Comeback Players of the Year in the AL and NL before naming the AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year. Today, we end Week 2 of our four-week series with the best relievers in the National League.

The top five vote-getters are featured here with commentary from people who chose them. The full list of votes is at the end.

So read on, see how we did and be sure to let us know what we got wrong!

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One more.

That’s all the San Diego Padres can afford before their off season officially begins a lot sooner than they thought it would.

Looking back to the end of August, the Padres had what most would consider a big lead in the National League West over the San Francisco Giants. Fast forward one month, and not only is their lead gone but the deficit has reached its breaking point after losing 22 of their last 34 games.

They face the Giants on Friday night in what will be a three game set in San Francisco. The situation has gotten so bleak for San Diego that they not only need to sweep the three-game set, but they need the Philadelphia Phillies to sweep the Atlanta Braves over the next three days. Something that’s not likely to happen, especially with the Phillies having already wrapped up the National League’s Eastern Division.

Whether that loss comes tonight, Saturday, or Sunday, the Padres front office knows that there are decisions that will need to be made to improve this team for the 2011 season to keep this kind of collapse from happening again.

Sure they’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations, but you won’t be remembered for how you played the first five months of the season, you’ll be remembered for how you finished. The Padres couldn’t do that, and they could be watching October baseball from home.

With that in mind, here are some issues facing the front office, and where I think the Padres will go with each one.

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After being swept at home by Colorado in the midst of a near franchise worst 10-game losing streak, the Padres are returning the favor at Coors Field.

The Padres hung on to beat the Rockies 7-6 Tuesday night, behind a 16-hit effort to win the second of a pivotal 10-game road trip.

In a search to find a leadoff hitter, manager Bud Black inserted Aaron Cunningham at the top of the order. Cunningham responded with three hits, including a double, and two runs scored.

Trade deadline acquisitions Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick each added RBI singles in the first. Tejada has now driven in five runs through two of the three games in this crucial NL West matchup.

No hit was bigger than pinch-hitter Matt Stairs’ two-run homer in the eighth, to put the Padres up 6-3.

San Diego relievers Mike Adams and Joe Thatcher couldn’t silence Colorado in the eighth. With two on and two out, Thatcher gave up a run-scoring single to NL MVP candidate Carlos Gonzalez.

In the top of the ninth, the Padres got a huge insurance run off a sacrifice fly by Nick Hundley before Heath Bell converted a shaky four-out save.

Bell gave up an RBI double to Melvin Mora after Todd Helton led off the inning with a double. Jay Payton later singled in a run as well, making it a 7-6 game.

But Bell got Eric Young Jr. to ground into a game-ending double play to earn his 29th straight save and 42nd overall.

A sharp John Garland (14-11) put an end to a three-game slide of his own, allowing three runs—one earned—and four hits. He also helped his own cause at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a double.

Just when you thought you’ve got the National League West a little more figured out, forget about it.

The Padres (82-62) now have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Giants (81-64), who lost 1-0 to the Dodgers despite giving up just one hit.

The Rockies (79-66), who had their 10-game winning streak halted Monday night, dropped to 3 1/2 games behind San Diego.

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