• Middle infielder Tommy Field has accepted an outright assignment with the Rangers after clearing waivers, club executive VP of communications John Blake announced. The 28-year-old will provide a depth option for the big league club. He has seen 45 turns at bat this year with the major league club, slashing .195/.250/.366.
• The Angels have outrighted outfielder Gary Brown to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Brown was designated for assignment on Monday to clear a 40-man spot. The former first-round pick has hit  a meager .202/.254/.331 this year at Salt Lake, but he’ll have a chance to stay in a familiar environment as he looks to engineer a turnaround and earn a crack at the big leagues.

Brown, once a first-round pick of the Giants, received a brief look at the big league level last year in San Francisco. He was twice being designated for assignment this spring, claimed first by the Cardinals and then the Angels.

It has been a tough year thus far for Brown, who owns a .202/.254/.331 slash in 136 plate appearances at Triple-A. He has also succeeded in just two of six stolen base attempts. The Cal State-Fullerton product looked like a quick mover after his first full year as a pro, but has never quite mastered the upper levels of the minors.

As for Ibarra, who turned 26 yesterday, his first season with the Angels organization has been a good one. Long a Twins minor leaguer, Ibarra owns a 2.25 ERA through 24 frames at Triple-A, with an excellent 10.9 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. Those strikeout-to-walk numbers both represent career-bests.

Formerly considered one of the top 50 prospects in all of baseball by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com, Brown’s upside never translated into results in the upper Minors. He’s a career .248/.305/.379 hitter in 1238 plate appearances at the Triple-A level and received a brief, seven-game cup of coffee with the Giants last season.

BA praised Brown’s 80-grade speed (on the 20-80 scouting scale) in their post-2011 scouting report — the same offseason in which they ranked him 38th among all prospects. He projected at one point as an elite defender in center field and a leadoff hitter with some surprising pull power, per BA, but clearly those expectations have been significantly dampened at this point.

St. Louis claimed Brown off waivers from the Giants earlier this month, and the 26-year-ols has a .352 OPS over 26 plate appearances at Triple-A Memphis.  Brown was the 24th overall pick of the 2010 draft and a highly-touted prospect prior to the 2012 season; Baseball Prospectus (18th), Baseball America (38th) and MLB.com (48th) all had Brown ranked amongst the top 50 prospects in the sport.  He didn’t produce much at the Triple-A level, however, though he did reach the majors for the first time last season in the form of a seven-game cup of coffee with the Giants.

According to the MLBTR DFA Tracker, Brown is one of five players currently in DFA limbo, along with Grant Balfour (Rays), Xavier Cedeno (Nationals), Kyle Drabek (White Sox) and Todd Redmond (Blue Jays).

Brown is a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect whose career has yet to take off as many expected. Brown surfaced in the Majors for the first time in 2014, collecting three hits in seven at-bats. A center fielder, Brown has batted .277/.342/.415 in parts of five Minor League seasons.

Maxwell, 31, entered the day with a .316/.361/.526 batting line and went 4-for-4. After a pair of solid seasons at the plate in 2012-13, Maxwell received just 45 plate appearances with the 2014 Royals and struggled to a .150/.222/.175 line. Capable of playing all three outfield spots, Maxwell has batted .230/.344/.407 against left-handed pitching throughout his career. Maxwell grew up a Giants fans, Schulman notes, so today’s news is likely particularly exciting for him.

Designating Brown for assignment was likely tough for the Giants, as he’s a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect whose career has yet to take off as many expected. Brown surfaced in the Majors for the first time in 2014, collecting three hits in seven at-bats. A center fielder, Brown has batted .277/.342/.415 in parts of five Minor League seasons.

2:27pm: The Mets will pay $4MM of the $6MM remaining on Beltran's contract, an executive not directly involved with the trade tells Sherman.  The number is confirmed by ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link).

1:30pm: If nothing happens in the next 24 hours to scuttle the deal, it's just Wheeler for Beltran and cash, tweets Sherman.  The Mets are sending a significant amount of money, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.

12:45pm: Olney tweets that Giants pitching prospect Zack Wheeler is expected to be the centerpiece in the trade, and Jon Paul Morosi agrees.  

12:17pm: Carlos Beltran is going to the Giants, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown, with logistics being worked out. Just minor details remain, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the two teams are at the one-yard line, while Brown reminds us that a 24-hour waiting period applies since Beltran has 10-and-5 rights.  The Phillies are just barely hanging on for Beltran, according to multiple reports.

• Beltran is not going to the Rangers, tweets Rosenthal.  The Giants are his presumed frontrunner.  He says the Mets had asked about Giants prospects Zack Wheeler and Gary Brown.  They won't get Wheeler, but Rosenthal says "we'll see" on Brown.
• Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez could go to the Mets as part of a Beltran trade, tweets Sherman.
• Some executives believe Boras is trying to direct Beltran to the Giants, a team that has the money to retain him after the season, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Meanwhile Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Rangers are offering the Mets a greater number of players for Beltran than the Giants, who are offering fewer players but more quality.  The Phillies are still serious, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
• The Indians walked away from the Beltran talks convinced that agent Scott Boras is controlling the process, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.  They won't shut the door on Beltran but believe he won't change his mind, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets have "moved off A-level prospect requests" for Beltran, but Andy Martino of the New York Daily News has a high-level source who denies the Mets have lowered their asking price.
• The Mets are making progress in negotiations with the Rangers and Giants, reports ESPN's Buster Olney.  The Braves remain involved.