Beltran Traded to The Giants? (For Gary Brown?) [Update: Not So Fast]

Update:

First a quick thank you to the reader who noticed that I misspelled Belt in the original article and put Bell. Sorry about that.

As the day has gone on, it does not seem as if a Beltran trade will happen today, and now I may retract my original prediction that it will happen in the next 48 hours. The Giants are interested, and are easily the favorites right now. It really looks most likely that G. Brown will be part of the deal, mainly because the Rangers are pushing hard for Beltran, so the Giants, if they win, will have to part with Gary Brown.

I have a feeling this may drag on for the better part of the upcoming week.

Original Article:

There have been several reports, a few of them contradicting at this point, that Beltran has been, or will be traded to the Giants in the immediate future. Essentially right now, it boils down to Lennon and Olney. To defend Lennon, he only states that there is increased chatter right now that Beltran will be going to the Giants. Olney says that he does not be believe the trade is imminent at this point, but does believe ultimately that the Giants will the be landing destination. The reports of Beltran being moved to Giants really started to pick up Saturday into Sunday night mainly:

-There were reports of increase chatter among the two teams

-It's no secret that the Giants really want Beltran, possibly more than the Braves and Phillies

-Gary Brown, the most likely Giants prospect that would be involved with the trade, was pulled from his game last night

-A Report came out yesterday that the Braves won't part with their top pitching, which is what they will need to get Beltran

-A Report came out yesterday that for teams protecting top prospects, Reed Johnson is available

-The Giants really need a big offensive piece, so a R. Johnson just won't do it.

I am in the camp that sees Beltran ultimately going to the West Coast. As much as I would like him to go to the Phillies so the Mets could get Dominique Brown, it doesn't seem at this point that will happen. The Giants have been leaning towards not giving up their best prospects, like Belt (but really, the Mets don't have a place for Bell who is a power first basement) and it seems like Gary Brown fits the Mets style.

Gary Brown is the type of player that puts the ball in play. There are two Mets right now, Reyes and Murphy, that have been doing that this season and they have been the most consistent, maybe most important parts of our lineup (excluding Beltran). The other piece of news on the street about Brown is he would be a player to be named later in a trade because he was drafted last season and he would have to be moved after the August 1st date (source, Metsblog).

So let's see. I'm hoping that Beltran gets moved today so we know already, but it looks like the Beltran sweepstakes at the latest will last another 48 hours.