Fantasy baseball has finally found it�s Mike Shanahan, and we should had figured it out long ago just based on the missing �M� in his name. Just after going to press last week, the three-team blockbuster trade featuring Carlos Beltran did indeed occur. Never mind that we were told just 24 hours earlier that the very same deal had been discussed but fell through. When a proposed trade gets out into the open, it is anything but dead (insert Dragnet music here).

At first glance Beltran relocating to Houston sounds like a good thing, actually going anywhere but Dodger Stadium could be construed as a good thing. Beltran goes to a contender with better hitters around him and goes to a great hitters park. But then that�s where Jimy (my spellchecker doesn�t know there is only one M) Williams rears his ugly head. First off, Jimy will continue to have Adam Everett continue to hit second (and sacrificing a lot at that), which means the #3 hole will not necessarily be a great RBI spot.

But then there are the stolen bases, which had made Beltran perhaps the best five-category player to begin with. Let�s take a look at the Astros stolen base stats from the last three years. Through 72 games this year Houston has stolen all of 23 bases, with seven of those belonging to Everett. That is tied for 25th among all MLB teams. In 2003 the Astros stole 66 bases, again 25th overall with no player having more than 11 SB�s. In 2002 the team stole 71 bags, tied for 23rd with Craig Biggio stealing 16 bases that year. In 2001(when Larry Dierker was still managing) the team stole 64 bases. You have to go back to 2000 (the first year after moving out of the Astrodome) to find the team running, with 112 SB�s that year. Julio Lugo stole 22 bases that year, but dropped to 12 the following year.

You can make a case for there not being a lot of fast players on the Houston roster, while pointing out the age of Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, who both stole plenty through the late 1990�s. Still overwhelming evidence states that you will be seeing much less running from Beltran in the second half, I�m guessing somewhere between 10-12 SB�s for the balance of the season, down from his average of 35 over the past three seasons. If need of a full five-category player for the CDM Challenge and you don�t have Beltran as of right now, I would suggest Bobby Abreu who has virtually the same stats.

So who came out the best in the trade??? Scott Boras is Beltran�s agent, meaning there was a better chance of Michael Moore being welcomed with open arms at the GOP convention than the Royals being able to sign Beltran long-term, so KC�s hands were tied. My breakdown is as follows�

Houston � The Astros are taking a huge, but necessary risk. Although only three games out of the Wild Card, Houston is currently mired in fifth place in the division. There is no guarantee of getting past St. Louis and/or the Cubs to get into the playoffs. Sure, the team only gave up Octovio Dotel and a prospect, but just look at the 1998 Randy Johnson rental which seemed innocent enough at the time. The unproven prospects shipped away in that trade turned out to be Carlos Guillen and Freddy Garcia, OUCH!!!!! As far as Dotel is concerned, Brad Lidge appears ready to immediately step into the closer role � hopefully if you were in need you grabbed him off the waiver wire the second the trade was announced. That bridge to the ninth inning is a little tougher now than in years past without Dotel or Billy Wagner around.

Oakland � It was actually the A�s that acquired Beltran, which in itself was a mastermind for GM Billy Beane just to keep him away from the Red Sox and Yankees. Then Beane got Beltran out of the American League for Dotel who should be an upgrade from Arthur Rhodes, whose attitude has turned sour in recent weeks and now wants out. It is possible that Rhodes may even be dealt to Houston in the coming days, with Rhodes becoming a setup man to Lidge. Dotel�s first appearance for Oakland was shaky, giving up a four-run lead in the ninth, which brings up concerns that Dotel, like Rhodes, may be more cut out to be a setup man rather than a closer.

Kansas City � In hindsight, it may had been easier on the team�s GM had the Royals lost 90+ games last year. Then there would had been no expectations of winning, perhaps allowing the team to get a Richie Sexson-like heist for Beltran. That said, I feel KC did very well in the trade, especially realizing that more value could be had now than had they waited until July 31. Acquired was top catching prospect John Buck (.300/12 HR, 35 RBI in 65 games in AAA) along with RHP Mike Wood (11-3, 2,80 in AAA) and top third base prospect Mark Teahan. Buck was ranked #3 among Houston prospects while Wood and Teahan were ranked #12 and #15 among Oakland prospects. Buck and Wood were immediately called up to the big club while Teahan is projected to be KC�s starting third baseman in 2005. The trade also paves the way for David DeJesus to become the everyday center fielder. DeJesus had a Carl Crawford-like streak of eight consecutive multi-hit games earlier this year in AAA.

Like Kansas City, the Seattle Mariners are mired in the cellar and have already thrown in the towel on 2004. Like Oakland, the Chicago White Sox are in contention and were not only seeking to upgrade their team, but making sure their intended target did not wind up with one of the AL East evil twins. Thus ace Freddie Garcia was dealt to the south side along with backup catcher Ben Davis for promising catcher Miguel Olivo and a pair of minor leaguers. Garcia is ecstatic to be reunited with good friend and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

Forget about Garcia�s 4-7 record, as Freddy is actually having a spectacular year with a 3.20 ERA/1.20 ratio in Seattle. In his White Sox debut, Garcia did give up four earned runs in six innings, but struck out nine and enjoyed offensive support which he rarely experienced this year as Chicago won 9-6. With Garcia, Mark Buehrle, and Estaban Loiaza, the White Sox now have the pitching comparable to match up with the other AL powerhouses. In Olivo, Seattle gets one of the games more promising backstops. In just 141 AB�s this year Olivo hit .270 with 6 HR and 27 RBI. Olivo will also get you more stolen bases than your ordinary catcher, he has 11 in 480 career AB�s. For the time being, Olivo platoons with veteran Dan Wilson. The real key to the trade may be outfielder Jeremy Reed, who was considered the #1 prospect in the White Sox system. The 23-year old is a career .334 hitter in the minors and has 8 HR and 37 RBI in AAA ball this year. Seattle also gets Michael Morse a shortstop currently in AA.

#1 overall picks have failed before, but I don�t think anyone has seen a top selection backfire in such immediate and spectacular fashion as we�ve seen with Matt Bush. That of course would be the shortstop who couldn�t even get to his first rookie league game without illegal trying to get into a Phoenix area bar with disastrous results. The problems don�t stop there, or even with his posse allegedly pilfering some goods out a Petco Park luxury box. During his first workout with the Padres, Bush indicate that when he gets the call to the bigs, that he will be a shortstop.

That would be fine except rookie Khahil Greene, who defensively already has amongst the best range of anyone at the position is already there. True, it has been said that Bush�s defensive skills are so good that he can play in the bigs now, but that�s not the point. It was Bush who wrote a letter to the Padres, begging for his home town team to select him. I imagine Bush follows the team and knows about Greene, that why did he wanted to be drafted by them then??? I remember when the Brewers tabbed Paul Molitor in 1977, who was a shortstop. Molitor didn�t whine about wanting to play short, and wound up playing at second and third base, along with some outfield, along with some short when Yount was out of the lineup or DH�ing.

So who�s the Royals representative with Beltran skipping town?? Even though his BA is down I�ll go with Mike Sweeney (.265/13/48) although Ken Harvey (.327/8/32) is also a possibility. Beltran is obviously in the NL outfield mix but there may be too many Astros on the team already. Speaking of which, how about Edgar Renteria�s six vote lead over Adam Everett in the shortstop voting?? But then something called the Fox News Network called the election for Everett, how can that be??? I can only figure that the entire Bush clan (and I don�t mean the Matt Bush clan) casted their votes at the last minute. Has Bud Selig called Karen Hughes to validate these results yet??? I always thought there was something fishy about those hanging chads on the All-Star ballots.

I�ve been giving my support towards Cleveland�s Victor Martinez in recent weeks, but what about the month Ivan Rodriguez had?? Pudge hits an even .500 for the month (43-86), the first to achieve such a feat since Todd Helton in 2000 (insert asterisk here). And he signed with Detroit!!!! I�m going to quit asking why Pudge keeps signing with decrepit organizations, I wouldn�t be surprised to see the Tigers winning the Central next year, or contending even yet this year. With Pudge and Carlos Guillen, Detroit baseball is more watchable than it�s been for a long time. I just hate to think where the Brewers would be had they shelled out the money for Pudge instead.

The Phillies and Rangers were both off the hook setting franchise records for home runs in any given month. Texas wound up with 44 bombs for the month (anyone miss Arod yet??) while the Phillies hit 43 out. Jim Thome hit 15 of those and now has 27 on the season, the likable Thome has already announced that he will indeed participated in the All-Star home run derby, in which he will be handicapped being a left-handed hitter. What I�m really waiting on is for Barry Bonds to call for a witch-hunt on Thome, you know that one�s coming. The Cubs Derrek Lee had an incredible tear recently, going 23-37 (.612), including a 5-5, a 4-4, and a pair of 3-3 days. On the other side of the ledger, the Rockies went 210 at-bats at home (I repeat, at home) without hitting a home run.

Interesting article on Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen, and Bill Pulphiser in Sports Weekly, on the various twists and turns their careers have taken after being anointed as the Mets Big Three of the future a decade ago. Wilson is finally having a career year with the Reds after seemingly a thousand arm surgeries, Izzy became a closer after a myriad of arm problems of his own, and Pulphiser is now mixing Xanax and breaking balls for a Long Island Independent League team. Goes to show once again that there is truly no sure thing among prospects.

And finally, it�s time to bring up my dead pool as far as managers are concerned. Incredibly, nearly half the season has gone by without a single manager getting whacked. Don�t worry, that will change soon enough � here are my leading candidates.

GOOD AS GONE: Lloyd McClendon (PIT � St. Louis sweep keeps him around for now), Bob Brenly (AZ � That one has to happen any day), Clint Hurdle (COL)

WALKING THE PLANK: Carlos Tosca (TOR)

BETTER MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR: Larry Bowa (PHI), Jim Tracy (LA)

GONE AT YEAR�S END: Frank Robinson (MTL � Will step down when the team moves)

COULD MOVE ON: Art Howe (Mets don�t hire managers to go .500), Bobby Cox (ATL � just might be time for a change), Jimy Williams (Astros might look in a different direction if they don�t make playoffs)