BELTRAN IS CANDIDATE FOR MVP AWARD, TRADE.

Byline: GABE LACQUES

The 2004 American League Most Valuable Player is for sale.

Right now, the only thing keeping Carlos Beltran's name off that trophy is that he's playing center field for the last-place Kansas City Royals, and just ask Alex Rodriguez how hard it is to win such hardware while languishing in the cellar.

The catch, of course, is this: There's no way Beltran finishes the year on a last-place team.

Beltran will make $9 million this season and then become a free agent, and the Royals are resigned to losing him. They didn't trade him in the offseason because they thought they could top last year's improbable run into contention, but now they are 10 games out and have no pitching.

Beltran will be a goner before August, and the bidding war could determine a pennant or two.

Oddly enough, bidders could be limited to less than a half-dozen teams. Beltran is determined to test the market this winter, so there will be no chance for teams to acquire him and then sign him to an extension. All signs point to him remaining in the American League.

The one wild card in the National League could be, oddly enough, the Padres, if they continue to contend. They could dangle a major-league ready outfield replacement in Xavier Nady, and adding Beltran, even temporarily, would be a significant boost to the Padres' pennant hopes and first-year buzz at Petco Park.

None of the serious contenders in the NL Central need center fielders, and that's mostly the case in the East, too.

So the drama figures to swing back to the AL, and the Beltran bidding could eventually come down to another highly-publicized tug of war with Boston and the Yankees, with some very dark horses like the Angels and Baltimore figuring in.

The Yanks and Red Sox saw fit to go toe-to-toe over A-Rod, and Beltran is the lone talent in the major leagues to inspire similar fits of competition. With players like Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero running less as they get older, Beltran, 27, is the most dynamic player in the game.

Right now, he's hitting .276, with 11 homers, 31 RBI and 10 steals in 11 attempts. That's a 45-homer, 41-steal, 127-RBI pace, in case you were wondering.

``He's the best switch-hitting center fielder in the game right now,'' says the Yankees' Bernie Williams, who knows a thing or two on the subject. ``He's got everything.''

On a par with A-Rod, talent-wise?

``I think he is,'' Williams said.

Since the Yankees already have Williams and Kenny Lofton, there's not much room for Beltran. But George Steinbrenner always finds room, even if he has to swallow salary and admit mistakes. And the biggest mistake he made in the offseason was giving Lofton - currently hitting .231 - a two-year deal. One problem: a barren farm system.

Boston? Beltran alongside Johnny Damon in Fenway Park's outfield, hitting in front of Manny Ramirez, is a stunning proposition. It would also give the yappers on Yawkey Way the last word in their year-long battle royale with the Yankees.

With Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Lowe soon to be free agents, the last thing the Red Sox need is another superstar who can walk in November. But if ever a year had a go-for-broke feeling in Boston, this is it, even if it costs the Red Sox a bevy of prospects.

Baltimore is intriguing, if only the Orioles had pitching to contend, because they could offer Kansas City the best package of major-league ready players. Jerry Hairston is an extra second baseman waiting to be dealt, and acquiring Beltran would enable them to ship out a solid outfielder, be it Larry Bigbie, Jay Gibbons or Luis Matos.

The Angels? It could be a matter of bad timing. Kansas City probably wants to wait for a July bidding war, but the Angels need Beltran now with Garret Anderson rehabilitating from an arthritic back condition.