According to a report from Buster Olney of ESPN, the Tigers have agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with Brad Penny. The veteran right-hander posted a 3-4 record with a 3.23 ERA for the Cardinals in nine starts in 2010. He missed four months of the 2010 season with a right shoulder strain.

This is a return to the American League for Penny, who struggled for the Red Sox in 2009, recording an ERA of 5.61 in 24 starts before being released by the club in August.

Brad Penny is officially a Cardinal after passing a physical. The biggest question remaining is what this means for fellow Red Sox bust John Smoltz, who had a 4.26 ERA in seven starts for St. Louis after losing his job in Boston.

Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News is tweeting that former Red Sox starter Brad Penny is closing in a deal with the Cardinals. Terms of the deal are not yet known.

After earlier reports that Andy Pettitte had rejected an offer from the Yankees, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News is tweeting that the team never made an offer but is planning to today. Buster Olney says the deal will be worth more than $11 million.

Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez could both be available, tweets Steve Henson, but the Braves won’t part with Kenshin Kawakami.

SI’s Jon Paul Morosi is reporting the Pirates and Tigers have both expressed interest in free agent shortstop Adam Everett. The 32-year-old is reportedly seeking a one-year deal for “around $3 million,” according to Morosi.

After an earlier report suggested Brian Bruney was on his way to Atlanta, Joel Sherman is tweeting that the Yankees have sent the right-handed reliever to the Nationals for a player to be named later.

Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star names the Giants, Mariners, and Rockies as the teams that are pursuing 31-year-old free agent catcher Miguel Olivo.

Witnout using the s-word, Boston fans need no reminder that the Sox went into the their last series with the Yankees 8-0 against their chief rivals and came out of it 8-4. Currently 6.5 games behind New York in the AL East, the Sox will need to make a statement this weekend if they plan on eventually regaining the division lead.

YANKEES VS. BRAD PENNY

Though many are concerned with the fact that the Sox are trotting out both Penny and Junichi Tazawa in a series of such importance, it is worth noting that Penny turned in his best performance of the season against the Yankees on June 11 at Fenway. In the start, Penny threw six scoreless innings and struck out five against CC Sabathia in a 4-3 Sox win.

Of course, with the good comes the bad. Penny is 0-3 with a 7.54 ERA in his last four starts and has given up 6 homers in that span. Especially considering the fact that the wild-card nemeses Rangers and Rays are squaring off this weekend, a win from Penny would prove even more beneficial.

Mark Teixeira (9 career plate appearances vs. Penny): 0-for-9, 3 SO
Johnny Damon (6): 0-for-5, BB, SO
Jerry Hairston (6): 1-for-6, SO
Derek Jeter (6): 3-for-6, SO
Alex Rodriguez (6): 0-for-4, BB, SO, HBP
Jose Molina (5): 1-for-5, homer, SO
Robinson Cano (3): 1-for-3
Hideki Matsui (3): 1-for-2, BB, SO
Nick Swisher (3): 1-for-3, SO
Melky Cabrera (2): 1-for-2, SO
Jorge Posada (2): –, RBI, BB

RED SOX VS. ANDY PETTITTE

When the Sox faced Pettitte on August 9 in New York, the left-hander looked like the man that tortured them prior to leaving for Houston following the 2003 season. Pettitte kept the Sox off the board for seven strong innings, allowing only five hits in the 5-2 Yankees victory. In his career against the Sox, the Baton Rouge-native has gone 16-9 with a 3.63 ERA in a season’s worth of innings (203.1).

Pettitte has been less of an innings-eater since going at least seven in his first three starts of the season (2-0). Since April 21, the lefty has lasted seven in only five of his 21 starts. This isn’t to say he hasn’t been a rock in Joe Girardi‘s rotation, however, as he has posted an ERA of 4.09 and seeks his 10th win of the season tonight.

Jason Varitek (64): .309 average / .391 on-base / .473 slugging, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 8 BB, 16 SO
David Ortiz (52): .370 / .404 / .565, homer, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 11 SO
J.D. Drew (33): .375 / .394 / .750, 3 HR, 4 RBI, BB, 12 SO
Kevin Youkilis (33): .360 / .515 / .600, homer, RBI, 7 BB, 5 SO, HBP
Dustin Pedroia (32): .188 / .188 / .219, 5 RBI, SO
Jason Bay (31): .44 / .516 / .630, homer, 3 RBI, 4 BB, 8 SO
Mike Lowell (30): .333 / .433 / .375, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 2 SO
Victor Martinez (15): .231 / .333 / .231, 2 BB, SO
Jacoby Ellsbury (14): .417 / .462 / .500, 4 RBI, BB, 2 SO
Nick Green (6): 3-for-6, SO
Brian Anderson (3): 0-for-2, BB
Alex Gonzalez (3): 1-for-3
Casey Kotchman (2): 1-for-2, double, 2 RBI, SO

DAVID PRICE VS. RED SOX

With a tough loss last night, the Sox will be looking for a win tonight against David Price, the pitcher who delivered the signature outs of Game 7 of last year’s American League Championship Series.

Price has had a bumpy introduction to life as a big-league starter. He is 4-4 with a 5.10 ERA, and his control (5.3 walks per nine innings) has been an issue. The stuff is still considered elite — he is striking out almost a batter an inning — and there’s plenty of reason to believe that patience with his development could reap huge rewards in the long term for the Rays.

In his last start against Kansas City, Price went seven innings and gave up five hits and one run while striking out three. The only other time he went seven innings was on June 17 in a 5-3 loss in Colorado. While Price has been in the league since last year, this is the first time that the Sox will see him as a starter. There will almost surely be many more to come. Among current members of the Sox, only Victor Martinez (0-for-2 with a strikeout) has faced Price in a regular season game.

BRAD PENNY VS. RAYS

With two months left in the regular season, Penny has struggled to achieve consistency. Over the past two months, he is 2-4 with a 4.53 ERA, and the Sox are 4-6 in his last 10 starts. He has pitched into the seventh inning just once in that time.

Now that the trading deadline has passed Penny can focus on his first post-deadline start. If he can repeat his last start in Tampa on May 8, when he pitched 6.1 innings, surrendering three runs on eight hits good for a 7-3 win, it would give the Sox a solid shot at salvaging a split before heading into the two-game series against the Yankees.

Here are the Rays’ career numbers against him – it is worth noting that Carl Crawford has been successful against him at the plate, which has led to havoc on the bases:

Pat Burrell (48 at bats against Penny): .229 average/.275 OBP/.438 slugging, 3 homers, 14 SO

Carl Crawford (8): 6-for-8, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Carlos Pena (9): 2-for-9, 1 RBI, 3 SO

Gabe Kapler (7): 3-for-7, 2 homers, 1 SO

B.J. Upton (6): 0-for-6, 1 BB, 2 SO

Jason Bartlett (6): 4-for-6, 2 RBI

Gabe Gross (5): 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Michel Hernandez (6): 1-for-6, 1 RBI

Evan Longoria (3): 0-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO

Ben Zobrist (2): 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 SO

Lance Cormier (1): o-for-1, 1 SO

Garrett Olson has never had much luck against Boston: in seven career starts against the Sox, the 25-year-old lefty is 0-5 with a 7.71 ERA. As a Baltimore Oriole between 2007 and 2008, Olson was frequently pitted against the boys from Beantown – and he always came up short.

In 2009, however, Olson was traded to the Marines after spending 10 days as a Chicago Cub. One might think the change of scenery would have been helpful to the young pitcher. But in his first start against the Sox in a Seattle uniform, Olson once again took on the Boston Red Sox and, much to his chagrin, once again failed. Olson gave up five runs off of four hits in six innings.

The pitcher would do well to approach Jason Varitek with extreme caution. The Sox catcher has gone deep three times against Olson, more than any other hitter. Somewhat shockingly, Jeff Bailey is tied for second on the list of Olson’s nemeses, having taken the left-hander deep twice in his five career plate appearances against the Seattle starter.

Saturday he’ll look to reverse his misfortune as he squares off against Brad Penny in a Fourth of July holiday matchup. Penny’s coming off of a tough 2-1 loss to Atlanta in which he pitched six innings of solid baseball and gave up two runs.

RED SOX VS. GARRETT OLSON

Dustin Pedroia (21 career plate appearances against Olson): .167 average/ .286 OBP/ .333 slugging, homer, 3 walks
Kevin Youkilis (17): .200/ .529/ .300, 7 walks, 3 strikeouts
Jason Varitek (16): .357/ .438/ 1.071, 3 homers, 2 walks
Julio Lugo (15): .429/ .467/ .500, walk, strikeout
David Ortiz (15): .231/ .333/ .538, homer, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
Jacoby Ellsbury (13): .182/ .308/ .182, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
J.D. Drew (11): .333/ .455/ .556, 2 walks, strikeout
Rocco Baldelli (6): 0-for-5, walk, 2 strikeouts
Jason Bay (6): 2-for-5, homer, walk
Jeff Bailey (5): 2-for-4, 2 homers, walk

MARINERS VS. BRAD PENNY

Ken Griffey Jr. (36 career plate appearances against Penny): .394 average/ .444 OBP/ .788 slugging, 3 homers, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Ronny Cedeno (8): 2-for-6, walk, 3 strikeouts
Miguel Batista (7): 0-for-7, 6 strikeouts
Ryan Langerhans (4): 2-for-4, strikeout
Russell Branyan (3): 0-for-1, 2 walks
Kenji Johjima (3): 1-for-3
Ichiro Suzuki (3): 1-for-2
Mike Sweeney (2): 1-for-2, strikeout
Chris Woodward (2): 1-for-2

In his weekly appearance on the Dale & Holley Show, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports offered his usual insight into the rumor mill, while also weighing in on the legacy of retired Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Donald Fehr, reasonable expectations for John Smoltz, and several other topics.

Some of Rosenthal’s thoughts:

On Donald Fehr- “He has a dour countenance, doesn’t speak much of his passion for the game, but his job wasn’t to please the fans. With the exception of steroid issue in which he failed his players, he’s been a successful guy.”

On Fehr’s legacy as MLBPA head-“The sport has made such incredible gains under his watch”

On the question whether or not baseball needs a salary cap- “What’s wrong with the sport in terms of competitive balance? Tampa Bay won last year, it’s not impossible for a small revenue team to win.”

On Donald Fehr and any connection to high ticket prices- “Teams will charge what the market bears. The Yankees overcharged, for example. I don’t blame Donald Fehr for getting his people the most possible money. If you’re a player you want Fehr representing you, getting the most money possible.”

On How Yankees built teams- “Having a behemoth like the Yankees isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I don’t mind teams being percieved this way. I think it’s healthy. I’d rather have a little bit of this big team behavior, as long as it’s not ruining the sport’s competitive balance.”

On Manny in the Minors- “I question that. If youre suspended 50 games, you should be suspended 50 games. Manny should go on that rehab assingment after the 50 games.”

More on Manny’s Supsension- “There is something in Congress about being suspended and then playing in the minor leagues. I just don’t like it. If you’re suspended from baseball you should be suspended.”

On the Matsuzaka situation- “I don’t know. I know that there is a lot of attention on the WBC, and understandably so. Dice-K is a guy who has thrown a ton of pitches since high school. If you listen to John Farrell, he thinks that the WBC affected his pitcher. Like any pitcher,he has a certain amount of bullets that are sure to run out. Maybe it’s reached that point. The Red Sox knew when they made that deal, that he was pitching in thw WBC.”

“If he certainly shows that he’s not the pitcher he was in the first two years of the deal, it doesn’t look like he’d be worth it. At this moment we have some questions, I’m not yet going to say that it wasn’t worth it.”

On the now “fatigued” Alex Rodriguez- “In my mind this is related to his hip and how he wanted to play everyday. I believe that this whole issue is overblown to the extent of an argument with Giardi or the Yankees punishing him.”

On Trade Rumors involving the Arizona Diamondbacks- “They have some interesting parts. Teams won’t be jumping up and down for Doug Davis. Qualls is a guy who has value. I don’t expect the D-Backs to be a significant seller, like Baltimore and their relief pitcher.”

On John Smoltz- He’s not the old John Smoltz, and no one should expect that. He’s a 4th or 5th starter now. He’s a different cat. His competitiveness is such that maybe he can do things that some people can’t. I can’t count out this guy. I’m anxious to see how this does not just for one start but for several.

On Brad Penny’s trade value- “His value might be peaking at this moment, but if you’re the Sox he’s shown you what he can do at this level of competition. The offers weren’t enticing enough for them to move him.

On the on-going Pedro Martinez saga- “Not if he wants a major league contract, that remains his principal desire. There are teams who see him more as a reliever than a starter. That’s the hold up. He wasn’t great in that workout, but he wasn’t horrible.”