Beltran to the Astros

[sahyder1]

ESPN.com news services

The Carlos Beltran Sweepstakes are nearing an end, and the winner appears to be the Houston Astros.

A three-way trade that would send Beltran -- the biggest prize on the trade market -- to Houston and Astros closer Octavio Dotel to Oakland is "very close" to being completed, a baseball official with knowledge of the talks tells ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

According to two sources, the trade could be completed Thursday night.

Dotel would wind up in Oakland, where he would take over as the closer in a bullpen that has more blown saves (14) than saves (13), sources said. Kansas City would acquire three prospects in the deal, the most significant being Oakland's highly regarded third-base prospect Mark Teahan. A's minor league pitcher Mike Wood and touted Astros minor league catcher John Buck are alse included, ESPN's Peter Gammons reports.

Beltran would succeed Craig Biggio as the Astros' center fielder. Biggio probably would move to left field.

Cash also would change hands in the deal.

The Associated Press is reporting that Beltran was told by the Royals on Thursday that he is being traded to Houston. Beltran was informed of the deal by Royals general manager Allard Baird, AP reports.

Oakland said it would have a conference call later Thursday but did not announce the subject.

Houston last week traded outfielder Richard Hidalgo to the Mets for relief pitcher David Weathers.

Didn't see this one coming. Guess they decided to give up on Dotel altogether but this makes things interesting for the 2 powerhouses in the AL East.

[thatshortguy]

Wow. Bagwell, Biggio, Beltran. Add a dash of Clemens and a hopefully healthy A.P.

The NL Central picture may have just been made clearer.

[Typical Phenom]

Only if Redding and Oswalt reach their potential. They're built to win right now, anything else has to be considered a huge disappointment.

[gunnar hendershow]

Something tells me the Astros are now destined to flop. Too many stars, too little space.

I hope they do flop... GO CUBBIES!

[HailtotheYo]

*UPDATE* THIS DID GO DOWN LAST NIGHT

This is great for Houston.

Being an Oakland fan I hate to see Teahan grow somewhere else, but you do what you gotta do. I think Oakland gets shafted out of the deal. KC loses Beltran, but we all know they couldn't keep him, and taking a shot on three VERY GOOD prospects will land them at LEAST one. Houston gains Beltran, and GETS RID OF DOTEL. He sucks. I hope I'm wrong as Oakland will now be banking on him, but seeing him firsthand here in Texas for the last few years ... UGH. Lidge should have been the closer coming out of spring training. Oakland goes from one unproven closer to another. People will disagree with me, but they never should have let Koch go.

Meh, At least the Stros games I go to in July will be fun.

Beltran, Biggio, Ensberg, Bagwell, Berkman, Kent damn ......

[gunnar hendershow]

Oakland definitely got shafted in the deal.

There's no doubt about that.

[punky]

Beane wouldn't have done this if he didn't think Dotel could help them NOW because he won't resign him. I've always liked the A's and Beane is the man on making trades like these, so I'll say the A's did very well.

In Beane I Trust.

[HailtotheYo]

Beane wouldn't have done this if he didn't think Dotel could help them NOW because he won't resign him. I've always liked the A's and Beane is the man on making trades like these, so I'll say the A's did very well.

In Beane I Trust.

←

Oakland is my team. Billy Beane is God. However, living in Texas, and seeing Dotel first hand for his entire career so far ... let's just say he leaves much to be desired.

Dotel CAN be an excellent closer, he just doesn't always show up mentally. He'll groove 100 MPH fastballs to the 2/3/4 hitters in a lineup. He pitches behind the count, and can't hold a runner to save his life. Pretty much, he's an idiot on the mound. If Asmus couldn't keep him straight, no one in Oakland can call a better 2 innings for him.

I go with it only because Beane pulled the trigger. I just don't see how he could think giving up Teahan AND Woods was worth the *risk* of Dotel being able to grow into a dominant closer.