The San Diego Padres have a crowded bullpen, but also have a lacking offense. As Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out, they should “consider re-balancing their portfolio to reduce risk through diversification.”

What Sullivan means with this, is that the Padres should trade some of their relievers to get an offensive boost. They were shutout on Saturday night for the eight time in 33 games, so it doesn’t matter how many good late-inning pitchers you have, with an offense like that they won’t have too many leads to protect.

One of the pieces in the Padres’ bullpen that has been the target of many trade rumors is their closer Heath Bell. The right hander will be eligible for free agency at the end of the 2011 season.

Before Friday’s night blown save, Bell converted 41 straight saves. A closer with that kind of record for reliability should get the attention for teams with problems in that area like the Cardinals or the White Sox.

Even though Bell said earlier this year that he’d be willing to take a discount to stay with the Padres after the 2011 season, the team might not have enough money to keep him around.

In five seasons with the Padres, including 2011, Bell is 25-15 with a 2.50 ERA and 98 saves in 324.1 innings throughout 303 games.

Image by SD Dirk under the Creative Commons license.