Heath Bell

The Rangers are in an absolute free fall, the Texas sky is falling and somewhere in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex, Chicken Little is running around screaming about it.

Well, ok, it's not really that bad just yet but Chicken Little may as well be Ranger fans because they certainly believe the sky is falling down on top of The Ballpark at Arlington.

They want Ron Washington fired as quickly as possible, the bullpen needs a drastic makeover and no I'm not talking about hair and nails, and the team needs to stop this slide their on after losing six of their last seven.

There are already some c

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms. 

It provides: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

San Francisco Giants Manager Bruce Bochy is pushing the envelope on this constitutional right with his current starting pitching staff. 

Okay, so I did part one (a look at the one-two starting pitchers of each NL West squad) a couple of days ago.

I figured, with all the hoopla about Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson getting two-year extensions (which I'm not exactly thrilled about), that a look at all the late-inning specialists of each NL West squad was in order.

Eight years and $184 million can do a lot of things, but prying inexpensive, top-tier closing talent away from a small-market club is a gargantuan task, regardless of the resources available.

Yet if the Minnesota Twins have any designs on persuading the San Diego Padres to part with their All-Star closer, Heath Bell, they took the first and most important step on Sunday.

That is when they agreed to a mega-deal with catcher Joe Mauer, extending him through the 2018 season and solidifying their catcher situation for the majority of the new decade. 

While the Cubs starting eight appear to be set, there is one pressing need in the bullpen left to be filled. Ah, but is that a set-up man, as we've been led to believe, or a true closer?

For if the Cubs can somehow pull off a trade for the San Diego Padres' Heath Bell, they could move Carlos Marmol back where he belongs, as the Cubs' set-up man.

I know it may be somewhat farfetched, but bear with me for a minute. First of all, the Padres know they aren't going anywhere in 2010, so Bell's name has come up as trade fodder.

As the officials from every MLB team get ready to wrap up the annual winter meetings, there are still some rumors making their way around the hotel in Indianapolis.

For the past few days, there had been reports that the San Diego Padres were looking into trading closer Heath Bell and third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.

The rumors surrounding Bell died just as quickly as they started, but the rumors surrounding Kouzmanoff stuck around late into last night. But, as of this morning, a deal didn't seem imminent.

Day three of baseball's winter meetings has seen a lot more action within just about every team in either league.

Things have even started to pick up for the San Diego Padres. There was talk yesterday that they'd had conversations with both the Giants and the Twins about a trade involving third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.