Reds Want Melendez for Davis : Baseball: Roberts, Howard would also go to Cincinnati. Reds insisting on a top pitcher.

The Padres’ unwillingness to trade pitcher Jose Melendez has led to an impasse in their bid to acquire All-Star center fielder Eric Davis from the Cincinnati Reds, according to a highly-placed source.

The Padres, according to the source, have at least temporarily rejected a trade proposal from the Reds that would send Davis and reliever Tim Layana to the Padres for infielder/outfielder Bip Roberts, outfielder Thomas Howard and Melendez.

“I feel uncomfortable talking about specific players,” Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said, “but that’s in the ballpark.”

The Padres, however, are trying to lure the Reds into making the trade without Melendez, 22, who was 8-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 1991, his first big-league season. The Padres have offered a choice of several other pitchers, but the Reds aren’t budging.

The Reds, who are in dire need of pitching help, have informed the Padres they would be willing to accept right-handers Ricky Bones or Jeremy Hernandez in lieu of Melendez, but the Padres adamantly refuse to include either player in the deal. The Padres also are refusing to include Bruce Hurst, Andy Benes or Greg Harris in the trade.

“We’re talking, and we’ll continue to talk,” McIlvaine said. “I don’t think there’s any harm in waiting. There’s no rush.”

Perhaps the Padres’ biggest gamble in delaying the trade is that the Reds could deal Davis to another team. The Dodgers, for instance, have offered pitcher Bob Ojeda and either outfielder Stan Javier or pitcher John Wetteland for Davis, according to a source.

Yet the Padres also realize the Reds’ options are limited. Davis has a clause in his contract that limits the Reds to trading him to six teams without his approval: the Padres, the Dodgers, the Angels, the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland Athletics, the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves.

“Really, what I’d like to do,” McIlvaine said, “is expand the trade, but they’ve been reluctant.”

McIlvaine, who orchestrated one of the biggest trades in the history of baseball’s winter meetings last year when he shipped Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to the Toronto Blue Jays for Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez, also is trying to obtain Reds’ bullpen stopper Randy Myers.

The Padres, according to a source, have offered a five-player package to the Reds for Davis and Myers. Yet, since the package does not include catcher Benito Santiago, Hurst, Benes or Harris, the Reds are uninterested.

“We’ll talk some more this week,” McIlvaine said, “but right now there are too many hurdles to climb before anything is completed.”

Meanwhile, McIlvaine will be formulating the Padres’ 40-man roster before the Nov. 20 deadline while exploring the free-agent market. Free-agent outfielder Danny Tartabull remains atop the Padres’ wish list, while free-agent infielders Mariano Duncan and Kurt Stillwell no longer are highly coveted.

Duncan and Stillwell have been rated Type A players in the free-agent market, and McIlvaine is skeptical that either is worth losing a No. 1 draft pick.

“If you sign a Type A or Type B player, you want to make sure he’s the type of player who can put you over the top,” McIlvaine said.