It is the Rangers, not Mariners, who have landed Rich Harden. Craig Calcaterra tweets the Rangers and Harden have agreed to a one-year, $7.5 million deal with an $11.5 million option for 2011.

Evan Grant says that “word on medical reports” is all the Rangers and Orioles need to complete the swap of Kevin Millwood and Chris Ray.

In the waning days of the season, the eyes of the American League are trained on events occurring in Boston and Arlington, Texas. The Red Sox and the Rangers are chasing the final playoff berth and coming into Sunday they are separated by three games for the Wild Card. This weekend events in the two cities have been oddly similar.

Both the Rangers and the Red Sox were rained out on Friday. Both of their Saturday games were delayed with additional deluges. This is nothing out of the ordinary in Boston. September rains are to be expected. But the dry state of Texas is not normally accustomed to such circumstances.

Unexpectedly, both cities face the same circumstances this weekend — three games in a matter of 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday. Like the Sox, the Rangers face a Sunday doubleheader (against the team hailing from the rain-soaked city of Seattle) and the events of the day will go a long way in determining who will be chasing rings when October baseball starts in earnest.

For the Sox’ part, they will be sending red-hot Clay Buchholz to the mound to face the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1. Buchholz has shaped into form recently. He has won his last four starts and has looked impressive in the process. During the streak his strikeout to walk ratio to is 3-to-1 (his season ration is 1.63 K/BB) and he has held opponents down with a .203 opponents batting average and a .252 opponents’ on-base percentage. Buchholz has been able to spot his fastball and throw his devastating change up for strikes to freeze hitters. Add that to his plus curveball and a it looks like the young right-hander has found his recipe for success.

On the opposite end from Buchholz is Rays right-hander Matt Garza. Garza has gone 7-9 in 2009 with a 3.85 ERA. Like a couple other Rays pitchers this season (notably Game 2 starter James Shields) Garza has seen poor run support in his starts, as the Rays average 4.05 runs per game with a total of 13 starts of three runs or less.

Garza has faced the Red Sox five times this season and is 2-0 with three no-decisions and a 2.55 ERA in 35.1 innings. The Rays are 4-1 against Boston this season in games Garza has started. The last victory came on September 2nd when Garza went 6.2 innings while giving up 4 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. Jacoby Ellsbury will try to get Garza into trouble on the base paths and has had success against the pitcher in the past, as he has posted a .375 on-base percentage  in 32 career plate appearances against the righty.

Buchholz versus Rays

Carl Crawford (10 career plate appearances) .222 average/ .300 on-base percentage/ .333, walk, 2 strikeouts

Evan Longoria (9) .250/ .333/ .500, walk, 4 strikeouts

Gregg Zaun (9) .222/ .222/ .444, 2 strikeouts

Jason Bartlett (8) .286/ .375/ .286, walk, strikeout

Gabe Gross (7) .000/ .000/ .000, strikeout

Akinori Iwamura (7) .286/ .286/ .714, home run, 2 strikeouts

B.J. Upton (5) .500/ .600/ .750, walk, strikeout

Pat Burrell (3) .000/ .333/ .000, walk

Dioner Navarro (3) .333/ .333/ .333, 2 strikeouts

Ben Zobrist (3) .333/ .333/ .333

Shawn Riggans (2) .000/ .000/ .000

Garza versus Red Sox

Jacoby Ellsbury (32 career plate appearances) .310 average/ .375 on-base percentage/ .310 slugging, 2 walks, hit-by-pitch, 4 strikeouts

Dustin Pedroia (31) .167/ .194/ .300, home run, hit-by-pitch, 2 strikeouts

David Ortiz (26) .095/ .269/ .381, 2 home runs, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts

Kevin Youkilis (25) .300/ .440/ .600, home run, 4 walks, hit-by-pitch, 3 strikeouts

J.D. Drew (22) .158/ .227/ .368, home run, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

Mike Lowell (20) .150/ .150/ .300, home run, 3 strikeouts

Victor Martinez (19) .250/ .316/ .313, walk, hit-by-pitch, strikeout

Jason Varitek (17) .133/ .235/ .200, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts

Jason Bay (12) .250/ .250/ .667, 5 strikeouts

Joey Gathright (12) .091/ .091/ .091, 3 strikeouts

Nick Green (6) .400/ .500/ .900, hit-by-pitch

Jed Lowrie (6) .000/ .000/ .000, 2 strikeouts

Brian Anderson (5) .400/ .400/ .800, 3 strikeouts

Alex Gonzalez (5) .250/ .200/ .500

Casey Kotchman (3) .500/ .667/ .500, walk

Josh Reddick (3) .000/ .000/ .000, 3 strikeouts

George Kottaras (2) .000/ .000/ .000, 2 strikeouts

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reports that talks between the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies concerning LHP Cliff Lee are possibly heating up. Phillies Triple-A prospects Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald were scratched from a start at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Stark also reports that the Phillies could also deal hard-throwing prospects Jason Knapp and Trevor May as a part of a deal for Cliff Lee. Members of the Indians brass have denied any trade being imminent today.

The Phillies turning their eyes to Lee, might be an indication that they would much rather pull off an impact deal for a front-line arm without trading away top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek and top outfield prospect Dominic Brown. Both prospects had been mentioned to be coveted by Toronto General Manager J.P. Ricciardi in a possible deal for Roy Halladay.

About 30 minutes after the announcement that he had beaten out Ian Kinsler in fan voting to be the starting second baseman of the American League All-Star squad, Dustin Pedroia took a swing worthy of the honor. He jumped on a 94 mph first-pitch fastball from Seattle starter Brandon Morrow, clearing the Monster Seats with his third homer of the year (and ending a 124 at-bat homerless drought).

Not to be outdone, David Ortiz — now batting cleanup — crushed a 96 mph fastball over the Red Sox bullpen and into the right-field bleachers for his ninth homer of the year. The two solo shots have put the Sox ahead, 2-0, in the bottom of the first.

Jason Bay arrived in Fort Myers this morning and seemed very much at home in a clubhouse that he was entering for the first time. Bay has made quite the Grapefruit League circuit, having been in spring training with the Expos, Mets, Padres and Pirates, but this is the first time that he has been with the Red Sox in the spring.

The development seemed a welcome one for a player who clearly relished his time in Boston after being traded there (in the Manny Ramirez blockbuster) last July 31. Bay said that his three months in Boston went by in a flash, and suggested that he would be open to the idea of staying with the Sox beyond this year (his four-year, $18 million deal is entering its final season) if they approached him about an extension, though he did offer some disclaimers to that notion.

“There’s definitely a lot of positives for me to stay (with the Red Sox),” said Bay. “I’m very familiar with it, I love it, as most people do, but it’s not the end-all, be-all. Until something concrete comes up in that arena right there, I really don’t have much opinion on it. I’m going out. I’m playing. I have one year left on the contract. I’m playing that out, and we’ll see what happens. If something comes up before that, and my agent and I think it’s worth it, I’d definitely consider it.” Read the rest of this entry »

A few tidbits taken in from Wednesday’s activities around the Red Sox’ spring training complex…

1) Josh Beckett’s shoulder showed more strength in tests than it did at any point in the 2007 season. The right-hander, who reported to camp at 228 pounds, looked strong in his first bullpen session of the spring.

2) Jon Lester weighed in at a robust 233 pounds, up five pounds from his season-ending weight of a year ago.

3) Both Brad Penny (who arrived in camp yesterday and threw his first bullpen session) and Takashi Saito (who threw for the second time) are slated to follow the same schedule as the rest of pitchers in camp. While pitching coach John Farrell allowed that Penny might receive an extra day of rest here and there this spring, the status of both pitchers is noteworthy given the injury issues that dogged both hurlers last year. Saito, incidentally, has received raves for his pinpoint precision in early bullpen sessions. Pitcher John Smoltz, meanwhile, does not have an established timetable for his progression this spring.

4) Manager Terry Francona insists that neither Mike Lowell or David Ortiz are physical question marks this spring.

5) Back in ’03, before the Red Sox acquired a fellow by the name of David Ortiz (and before Ortiz became one of the most formidable hitters in baseball), Boston likely would have been thrilled to acquire a player like Adam Dunn–a high on-base percentage masher with significant defensive limitations. That’s no longer the M.O. for players whom the Sox try to acquire.

And, for bonus things we learned, it is worth mentioning that both Nick Hagadone and Bruiser are doing quite well, and that Junichi Tazawa (who threw in front of Farrell for the first time yesterday) has not only a nice little pitch mix but also a bit of funk in his delivery, as he curls the ball behind his back during his leg kick, bearing slight resemblance to the motion employed by Rick Sutcliffe.

Greetings from Fort Myers, where I’m joining the fray in an attempt to deny Bradford a monopoly over the blogosphere. In a shocking development, there’s very little of note on a sleepy morning at the minor-league complex. The ranks of the 40-man roster are growing, with pitchers and catchers officially due to

A Bruiser indeed

report tomorrow. Brad Penny made his appearance, crossing paths with former Marlins teammate Josh Beckett.

“There he is–the Duke,” quoth Beckett.

A dog named Bruiser is also stalking the premises.

Yup, the news is fast and furious.

Perhaps (OK, certainly) more noteworthy was the presence of Nick Hagadone, the Red Sox’ top draft choice in 2007 (sandwich round, 55th overall). Though he missed most of 2008 after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament early last year and undergoing Tommy John surgery in June, Hagadone was still ranked the third best prospect in the Red Sox system by Baseball America. That position reflects the fact that, after giving up five runs in his pro debut in the summer of 2007, the 6-foot-5 power lefty did not give up another earned run over his next 33 innings for Lowell in ’07 and Greenville last year. Before his injury, he flashed a mid-90s fastball, sharp slider and promising changeup. Read the rest of this entry »