Marlins pitcher Josh Beckett soon be headed back to his home state of Texas next season along with third baseman Mike Lowell. In what could be the first step of a major housecleaning in Florida, the Marlins and Rangers are close to completing a trade that would send Beckett and Lowell to Texas for third baseman Hank Blalock and a top pitching prospect, two baseball sources said Friday night. The deal, characterized as "well in the works," has been brokered in the past couple of days between Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and Rangers owner Tom Hicks, an American League source said. But both sources said the deal could fall apart because the Rangers are reluctant to part with one of their coveted pitching prospects. The Marlins are asking for either left-hander John Danks, Texas' first-round pick in 2003, or right-hander Thomas Diamond, the team's first-round pick in 2004. The Rangers' reluctance to part with one of those pitchers is the only obstacle in the deal, but a major one that ultimately could kill it, a source said. The deal would send Beckett, a native of Spring, Texas, outside Houston, to the Rangers while giving Lowell a fresh start in the American League after a miserable 2005 season. Beckett said he had heard rumors the past couple of months that he might be traded but he was not aware of the Rangers deal until he was told by a reporter late Friday. "It hasn't happened yet,'' he said. "I think I'd rather reserve my comments until there's some validity to it.''