ESPN.com – MLB – Beltran sent to Astros in three-team trade

ESPN.com – MLB – Beltran sent to Astros in three-team trade

Obviously Beltran owners in AL leagues are bummed, but they had to be ready for this. The question is how high are NLer’s expectations.

I did a survey of AL hitters who moved to the NL following Shawn Green’s rather rude introduction to the senior circuit a few years ago. A little surprisingly, AL hitters moving to the NL do take a hit, at least in the short term. Not all of them, of course, but on the whole.

Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t jump all over Beltran. Even if he’s half as roto valuable in the second half in Houston, he’ll be worth an all-in bid. There is no way any team in position to acquire him can take a pasadena. But if he starts out 2 for 33 remember that the NL has some kind of hex on AL initiates.

But it doesn’t last.