Davis May Slip From Padres’ Hands to Dodgers’ : Baseball: Reds begin talks with L.A. Padres may now focus on getting Myers.

The Cincinnati Reds have opened serious trade negotiations with the Dodgers according to two highly placed sources, and might pull outfielder Eric Davis out of their trade talks with the Padres.

The Reds and Dodgers have had lengthy trade talks the past two days. They’re discussing a deal that would send Davis to the Dodgers in exchange for starting pitcher Tim Belcher, or a package centered around starter Bob Ojeda.

The Padres, who have become aware of the Reds’ intentions, will continue to negotiate with Cincinnati, but may now concentrate their efforts on acquiring reliever Randy Myers.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager. “It’s up to them. He certainly fits the role of a hard-throwing relief pitcher.”

The Padres, according to a source close to the negotiations, have offered infielder/outfielder Bip Roberts to the Reds for Myers. They also had Roberts and outfielder Thomas Howard included in a trade package for Davis.

“Roberts is gone, in either scenario,” the source said. “It’s more of a question of whether Davis or Myers is coming.”

The Padres privately had hoped they could acquire both Davis and Myers in the trade, but their refusal to include All-Star catcher Benito Santiago disintereted the Reds.

“They haven’t called me the last couple of days,” McIlvaine said. “They were supposed to get back to me on Monday, but I haven’t heard from them.”

Instead, the Reds have secretly been in negotiations with the Dodgers. Although the Reds earlier rejected the Dodgers’ proposals of Ojeda and either outfielder Stan Javier or pitcher John Wetteland, sources say the Dodgers have made their offer much more attractive.

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, refused to confirm or deny that the team is close to consummating a trade.

“There’s a lot of examination and exploration taking place,” Claire said. “Even though we have not made any moves, we have not been waiting around for the phone to ring. We’re looking at different options.”

Would the Dodgers dare trade away a pitcher such as Belcher before re-signing free agent pitchers Orel Hershiser and Mike Morgan?

“This is a business of risk,” Claire said.

The Dodgers and Padres are two of only six teams to which Davis can be traded, in accordance to a clause in his contract. The others are the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves. The Angels originally were one of the six teams, but Davis eliminated them and added Oakland, according to Eric Goldschmidt, Davis’ agent.

If the Dodgers acquire Davis, they would play him in left field, alongside center fielder Brett Butler and right fielder Darryl Strawberry. Left fielder Kal Daniels immediately would become expendable.

Should Davis become unavailable to the Padres, it’s unknown whether they would then turn their attention to free-agent outfielder Danny Tartabull. Myers earned $2 million last season, and could receive close to $2.4 million in an arbitratation hearing this winter. Myers, like Davis, is eligible for free agency after the 1992 season.

Myers, who averaged 27 saves the past three seasons, lost his stopper’s role in April to Rob Dibble. Myers had only six saves, and wound up in the starting rotation the second half of the season. He finished with a 6-13 record and 3.55 ERA.

Times staff writer Bill Placshke contributed to this story.