The New York Yankees hope they've found the ace they need to dethrone the World Series champion Boston Red Sox. The Atlanta Braves got the pitcher they wanted to return to their days of pitching dominance.

The Yankees closed in on completing a blockbuster deal for Randy Johnson on Thursday night. The deal would send Javier Vazquez to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Shawn Green to the Arizona Diamondbacks, sources told The Associated Press.

"It is going to happen," a source familiar with the negotiations said on the condition of anonymity. Another team source said the principals were in place for the trade to be completed.

Earlier Thursday, the Braves made another huge pitch for success, getting Tim Hudson in a trade from Oakland, and the Seattle Mariners signed another slugger, agreeing to a contract with All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre.

After blowing a 3-0 lead in the AL championship series to Boston last season, the Yankees set out in the offseason to upgrade their starting pitching. They are close to finalizing contracts with free-agent pitchers Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright, but the Big Unit is the player they coveted most to match up against the Red Sox and his former teammate, Curt Schilling.

The five-time Cy Young Award winner is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $16 million next season. He has a no-trade clause and it was unclear if the Yankees had to agree to extend his deal to make the deal go through.

Johnson, 41, wanted out of Arizona so he could pitch with a contender. He went 16-14 with a 2.60 ERA and 290 strikeouts last season for the Diamondbacks, who finished 51-111. Johnson has 246 wins and is third on the career strikeouts list with 4,161.

Fox Sports and Newsday reported on their Web sites that the other players involved in the deal are Yankees prospects catcher Dioner Navarro and third baseman Eric Duncan, who are going to Los Angeles, and Dodgers pitchers Brad Penny and Yhency Brazoban, who would be sent to Arizona.

There was no confirmation from any of the teams that a deal had been finalized. And one source said it still could fall apart at the last moment because of the number of players and clubs involved.

"We're still in conversations with a lot of different clubs about a lot of different possibilities," Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta said. "We have talked about some three-way deals and some four-way deals. I don't know if it's going to happen or not."

Green, 31, has a .282 career average, but dipped to .266 last season with 28 home and 86 RBIs.

Penny, 26, was traded from Florida to the Dodgers last July 30, but saw limited action for Los Angeles because of a problem in his right arm. He was 9-10 with a 3.15 ERA for both clubs.

Vazquez, 28, struggled in his one season in New York, going 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA. He is owed $35.5 million over the next three years.

Earlier Thursday, the Braves swooped in and acquired Hudson for outfielder Charles Thomas and pitchers Juan Cruz and Dan Meyer.

The Braves have won 13 straight division titles. Last Saturday, they got All-Star closer Dan Kolb from Milwaukee - a move that allowed them to move John Smoltz back into the rotation.

"This winter, we have set our sights on going back to sort of the old-fashioned Braves' way of building championship teams with dominant pitching," Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz said. "That's what we think we have done."

After finishing at the bottom of the AL West and winding up last in the league in runs and homers, the Mariners reached agreement with Beltre on a $64 million, five-year deal Thursday, the AP learned.

Beltre's contract was subject to him passing a physical, a person close to the third baseman said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The deal could be announced as early as Friday. Seattle did not comment on the agreement.

A day earlier, the Mariners finalized a $50 million, four-year contract with free-agent first baseman Richie Sexson.

Also, Kansas City traded catcher Benito Santiago to Pittsburgh for right-handed prospect Leo Nunez. The Royals also must pay about $1 million of Santiago's $2.15 million salary.

In another deal, Atlanta sent outfielder Eli Marrero to Kansas City for right-hander Jorge Vasquez. The Braves began the day by reaching agreement with Smoltz on a new $20 million, two-year contract.

With the A's facing yet another payroll crunch, general manager Billy Beane finally broke up his "Big Three" starting pitchers of Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

The Georgia-born Hudson posted 81 wins from 2000-04, tied for the most in the AL over that span.

"I always wondered how it would be to put on a Braves uniform and play in Atlanta," Hudson said. "Now I get to see. Hopefully I'll do what all the Braves pitchers had done."

Hudson was 12-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 27 starts this season. Earlier this month, Hudson set a March 1 deadline for the A's to offer him a contract extension, or he planned to leave as a free agent following the 2005 season.

Beltre, 25, led the majors with 48 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit .334 with 121 RBIs, and finished second behind Barry Bonds in the NL MVP voting.

"We're disappointed. It hurts," DePodesta said. "Obviously, we would have loved to have him back."

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Associated Press sports writers Bob Baum in Phoenix, John Nadel in Los Angeles and Ben Walker in New York contributed to this report.