Jayson Stark has a new piece up,and the lead is the Heath Bell situation, with Stark saying that the San Diego Padres have "narrowed their focus" and are looking at deals to move Bell, along with potentially Ryan Ludwick and Mike Adams.
Stark says several front office execs have predicted in the last 24 hours that Bell will end up with Texas, and that "in the past 24 hours, Texas' discussions with the Padres have gotten "more specific" and that the teams were trying to settle on a "realistic price" for what the Rangers are chasing."
Stark says the Rangers have been aggressive on Bell, Adams, and Chad Qualls, as they look to do something to shore up the bullpen, which has a 4.48 ERA -- 26th among major league teams, Stark points out.
At this point, I'd be shocked if the Rangers didn't make a deal for a reliever, and probably mildly surprised if they didn't add a couple of bullpen arms before the trade deadline.