Astros and A’s pull off intradivision trade with swap including Jed Lowrie and Chris Carter

The Oakland Athletics are still dealing and the Houston Astros are still rebuilding. The teams agreed on a trade on Monday that could prove beneficial for both organizations.

The A's are the new owners of shortstop Jed Lowrie and pitcher Fernando Rodriguez, while the Astros get powerful first baseman Chris Carter and two prospects, pitcher Brad Peacock and catcher Max Stassi.

What makes this a little more interesting: It's the not-so-common intradivision swap, since the Astros are joining the A's in the AL West this season.

The trade will give Oakland another shortstop to fill the void left by the departure of Stephen Drew. Oakland already imported Hiroyuki Nakajima from Japan — you remember, the guy who thinks Billy Beane is sexy — to play short. Lowrie, however, is both injury-prone and versatile. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal first reported the trade and is saying Oakland plans to move Lowrie around the infield.

Houston gets much-needed power in Carter, who slugged 16 homers in 67 games in 2012, despite a .239 batting average. Peacock has shown flashes of potential too. He was the 42nd best prospect in baseball during in 2011, according to Baseball America, as part of the Washington Nationals organization. He was sent to the A's in the Gio Gonzalez trade.

With the Astros, Peacock should have a quicker path to the starting rotation than in arm-heavy Oakland.