Rumors’ swirl can rock players’ world

“The game is hard enough when you’re focused,” says Chase Headley, the San Diego Padres’ third baseman. “So if you’ve got something distracting you that can be a real problem.”

And Headley easily could be distracted right now because he’s among the players repeatedly mentioned as trade candidates ahead of the nonwaiver trade deadline July 31.

The teams reportedly eyeing the switch-hitter include the Dodgers, who are wrapping up a three-game series with San Diego at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, because their offensive production at third base has been wanting all season.

Other teams said to be looking at Headley include the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Headley, 28, does his best to avoid the swirling rumors. It’s harder than ever. Headley exemplifies how today’s big leaguers must grapple with the daily doses of trade speculation that appear not only in conventional news outlets but on Twitter, baseball blogs and other electronic media.

“I don’t go online and look for rumors and things like that,” Headley said. “Now, anybody who goes on the Internet can be part of the media and write whatever they want. You can hear stuff that may or may not be true.”

San Diego General Manager Josh Byrnes recently said that while the Padres have fielded inquiries from other teams about various players, his club feels no pressure to trade anyone.

It’s also thought the Padres might be reluctant to make any deals pending the team’s sale, which is expected to close after the trade deadline. A group led by former Dodgers ownerPeter O’Malleyand his family is considered the front-runner to buy the Padres.

That hasn’t stopped Headley’s name from being bandied about as a trade possibility, for several reasons.

The Padres have played so poorly — through Friday they were 34-54, last in the National League West and 14 games behind the first-place Dodgers — that they’re thought to be willing to deal some of their more valuable players in a rebuilding effort.

Two of Headley’s teammates, slugger Carlos Quentin and closer Huston Street, who made his first All-Star team last week, also are frequently rumored trade candidates.

Headley, who had a 12-game hitting streak shortly before the All-Star break, was batting .266 through Friday and leading the Padres with eight home runs and 42 runs batted in.

It’s been suggested that Headley — who has played only for the Padres since he reached the big leagues in 2007 — would be a better hitter outside of San Diego’s spacious Petco Park.

His career batting average at home is .234 but on the road it was .299 before Saturday, including a .325 average at Dodger Stadium. He’s also seen as an above-average fielder, with five errors this year through Friday. He appeared in 87 of San Diego’s first 88 games.

Headley also remains under team control — he’s not eligible for free agency until after the 2014 season — and he’s earning a relatively affordable $3.48 million this season.

“I do my best to try to ignore” trade rumors “because I know I have zero control over where I end up,” Headley said. “Sometimes it’s easier said than done.”

Headley said he takes some solace in being a position player rather than a pitcher who doesn’t see action every game.

“I know I’m running out there” each day, he said. “I know I’ve got to focus on what I’m trying to do. I’m glad I’m not having to play once every three or four days and continually have time to think about” the rumors.

Quentin, a San Diego-area native who’s playing his first season in his hometown after coming from the Chicago White Sox, is making $7.03 million this year and is a free agent after this season.

After missing the first several weeks this year due to knee surgery, Quentin was batting .267 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs in 116 at-bats.

He declined to talk to The Times about trade rumors or his status with the Padres, but he did speak to the San Diego U-T last month. “I don’t control what the Padres might decide,” he told the newspaper, adding that he was “definitely open to talking about a future with the Padres.”

In the meantime, Padres Manager Bud Black said he tries to help Quentin, Headley and the others tune out the trade noise by reminding them that “your job is to play.”

“All the talk that you hear outside of the playing lines, you have to try to keep that to a minimum,” Black said. “If you start thinking too much about all that it becomes so distracting, and it’s only going to magnify from here on out.” Until July 31.

james.peltz@latimes.com