Heath Bell News

New San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer has inherited a valuable trade chip in All-Star closer Heath Bell.

Well, so much for the theory that the groundwork for trades is made at the general manager's meetings and consummated at the Winter Meetings.

As Astros right fielder Hunter Pence cranked eight home runs off Clay Buchholz yesterday at the Reebok Baseball Summit, the righthanded hurler sported an ear-to-ear grin.

The San Diego Padre fans are done losing, they're done with empty promises that have yet to be fulfilled.

I am so tired of anyone who uses the " the Yankees spent 60 bazillion and bought the best record in baseball " comment.

FriarChat.com: Padres' Award Winners Padres correspondent Mark Polishuk analyzes the highs and lows of San Diego's season.

What are the chances of selling high on Heath Bell early in the offseason? I feel like the Padres would be able to get a little bit more value out of him.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery has celebrated his 88th birthday with a little help from his friends, including soul legend Aretha Franklin and actor Samuel L. Jackson.

San Diego County Credit Union recently hosted a successful grand opening of its new branch in Mission Valley.

The bittersweet irony of his season is not lost on Yorvit Torrealba. "What I went through was not easy," the Rockies catcher said in the cramped visitors' clubhouse at Dodger Stadium.

Before baseball pulled him in for life, before he could blow the $20,000 signing bonus the Padres gave him in 1982, Kevin Towers, the player, filled a bag with clothes and stowed away to Europe for a month.

Now comes the hard part for the Padres, who were still brimming with optimism Sunday, giddy from a blissful two-month stretch where they went toe-to-toe with the best in the National League.

3, 2009 in San Diego. - AP SAN DIEGO - Left-hander Wade LeBlanc held San Francisco to two hits in seven innings and struck out a career-high eight to lead the San Diego Padres to a 2-0 win over the Giants on Saturday night.

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Tony Gwynn had a solo home run and Heath Bell picked up his NL-leading 41st save Tuesday to help the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1. The Dodgers' magic number for clinching the NL West title remained at one.

Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories today with ESPN's Sports Passport.

" Sixty percent of Padres individual game tickets and 86 percent of the full-plan season tickets for the 2010 season will be reduced in price next season.

One of Cubs GM Jim Hendry's first priorities this offseason is to try and move Milton Bradley, and he just may find a willing trade partner in friend and fellow GM Kevin Towers, according to an ESPN.com report by Jerry Crasnick.

Not a bad night for Padres rookie reliever Luke Gregerson, who pulled off a nice impersonation of closer Heath Bell, picked up his first Major League save and was spared the indignity of having to pull fishnet stockings over his legs.

" He's so very understated that, well, so are his accomplishments. There may be more numbers and drama attached to the work of Heath Bell, more sizzle to the set-up work of strikeout artists Mike Adams and Luke Gregerson, more excitement generated by the early arrival and energy of young phenom Mat Latos.