DODGERS NOTEBOOK: DEAL FOR HUDSON FAR FROM DONE.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Late Sunday afternoon at baseball's winter meetings, several hours after it was widely reported the Dodgers had reached agreement with Oakland on a three-player trade that would have brought veteran right- hander Tim Hudson to Los Angeles, a group of Bay Area reporters filed into A's general manager Billy Beane's hotel suite for their daily briefing.

Beane, according to at least two people who were there, greeted them with this:

``How do you guys look now?''

In fact, it was hard to tell how they looked, what with their faces hidden behind so much egg. A while later, Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta used a softer approach, telling the Los Angeles media in a matter-of-fact tone that reports the Hudson deal was done were ``overblown,'' that the clubs had not even reached the point of an official trade proposal and that the reported two players the Dodgers would send to the A's - pitcher Edwin Jackson and infielder Antonio Perez - was inaccurate, although DePodesta wouldn't specify which part.

But neither GM would rule out the possibility that Hudson could wind up with the Dodgers. Although it is apparent that he won't be there anytime soon. To get him, the Dodgers probably will have to give up more than their top pitching prospect and a backup infielder with speed who, at 24, already is with his third organization. The Dodgers also face plenty of competition for Hudson, including Baltimore and maybe Atlanta and Florida.

``I don't think this will drag on indefinitely,'' DePodesta said. ``My guess is if something happens, it will happen relatively quickly. I don't see it dragging on another two weeks.''

Although the common belief has been that the small-market A's are looking to unload Hudson because he is a year from free agency, Oakland reportedly has widened their talks to include shopping pitchers Mark Mulder and Barry Zito, even though neither of them is eligible for free agency until after the 2006 season.

--Beltre update: DePodesta met Sunday with Scott Boras, the agent for free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre. The Dodgers no longer are in the hunt for free-agent third baseman Corey Koskie, who appears on the verge of signing with Toronto, meaning the pressure to re-sign Beltre probably will intensify.

Boras is believed to be seeking a seven-year deal worth about $90 million for Beltre.

``I think we have a pretty good sense of where they are, and they were looking to get a better sense of where we are (in Sunday's meeting),'' DePodesta said. ``I think given everything else that's going on, everybody wants to move this along a little bit.''

DePodesta predicted the issue would come to some resolution in about two weeks, adding that he plans to make his first formal offer to Beltre ``shortly.''

Boras said the meeting went well.

``We just talked a lot about the Dodgers, about Adrian's place on the Dodgers, about other directions they want to take and what his role on the team can be,'' Boras said. ``The Dodgers have always told us they have the requisite wherewithal to meet the fair-market value for Adrian Beltre, and we are taking them at their word.''

--Draft time: DePodesta said there are players available in this morning's Rule 5 draft the Dodgers are interested in, but that the club's relatively low draft position (26th) might mean those players won't be available.

``I would say potentially we could take a few guys, but I also would say there is a chance we won't,'' DePodesta said.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com