According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Red Sox and Padres have a greed to a deal that will send first baseman Adrian Goznalez to Boston in exchange for several top prospects.

The team flew in Gonzalez, who had surgery Oct. 20 on his right, non-throwing shoulder to clean up the labrum, for a physical examination Saturday. While there was no official word on the physical, a team source told ESPNBoston.com’s Joe McDonald that Gonzalez “looked good.”

The Red Sox continued Saturday night to work on a long-term contract with him, a source, who indicated that the negotiation window will close at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, told ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes.

In exchange, the Padres would receive three prospects in pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes, according to a baseball source. The Padres also would receive a player to be named later, a source told Edes.

This deal works for all parties involved. The Padres couldn’t/wouldn’t pony up to pay Gonzalez, so they needed to get something for him before he hit the open market in 2012. The Red Sox desperately needed to add another middle-of-the-order bat and Gonzo fits the bill. He should love that short porch in right field at Fenway, although this guy can hit it out to all sides of the field. (He should love hitting in that wind tunnel that the Yankees call a ballpark, too.)

The only thing that’s unfortunate is that the Padres’ offense was about as explosive as wet tuna last year and now they just traded away their best hitter. This is a club that relied heavily on pitching last year and they’ll have to do it again this season because their lineup is the definition of weak.

Of course, maybe management knew that their success last year was more fluke than anything and decided that it was now or never when it came to trading Gonzalez. They didn’t want to hang onto him just to finish fifth next year (I’m not saying they would have – I’m just delving into the thought process of San Diego’s brass) and lose out on the chance to acquire Rizzo, Kelly and Fuentes. So they made the trade and will now deal with the fan outcry.

In the end, the Giants’ most inconsistent starter over the past couple of years was the one who saved their season.

Jonathan Sanchez lasted only five innings on Sunday, but he held the Padres to no runs on three hits as the Giants shutout San Diego 3-0 to win the NL West. Sanchez also sparked what had been a lifeless offense the past two days by roping a triple in the third inning off Mat Latos and scoring on a Freddy Sanchez (photo) single two batters later. Aubrey Huff doubled home Sanchez to give the Giants a 2-0 lead, while rookie Buster Posey homered in the 8th to cap the scoring.

The Giants have been waiting a long time for the talented Sanchez to put it all together and they were rewarded for their patience. He was nearly traded several times over the past two years, but credit GM Brian Sabean for knowing what he had and not selling low. He finished the year 13-9 with a 3.07 ERA and obviously saved his best performance for last.

It’s kind of amazing that the hero wound up being Sanchez and not Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain. That’s not a knock on Sanchez, but I’m sure many Giant fans thought it would have been Cain that won the deciding game on Friday night and not Sanchez on the final day of the season. And heading into today, I’m sure there were plenty of fans that thought Lincecum would have to save the season in a one-game playoff with San Diego on Monday. But Sanchez truly bailed the Giants out after Cain and Barry Zito were hit hard in their respective starts the past two days.

The Giants will now face the Braves next Thursday in San Francisco, while the Phillies host the Reds starting on Wednesday. General baseball fans may not be thrilled with the match ups, but it’s great to have new teams like the Reds and Giants completing in the postseason. Three of these four teams have great fan bases (sorry Atlanta fans, but on a whole you’ve proven that you don’t give a crap) and the energy in Cincinnati and San Francisco right now is fantastic.

This is, without a doubt, the best time of year in sports. Football and playoff baseball? Outstanding.

Barry Zito’s contract continues to be the biggest rip-off in sports history.

Since arriving from Oakland and taking $126 million of the Giants’ money, the only thing Zito has done is strum a few notes on his guitar and lose ballgames.

After Matt Cain got his teeth kicked in by the Padres last night, it would have been nice if Zito stepped up for a change and won a huge game for his club. Instead, he allowed four runs (three earned) over three measly innings of work as the Giants once again fell to the Padres in San Fran. It wasn’t entirely his fault of course, as the Giants’ offense has reverted back to the Jose Castillo days, but he put his team down 2-0 in the first and sucked the life out of them.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, that means San Diego is now just one game behind the Giants in the NL West. These were the same Padres that couldn’t score a run against the Cubs two days ago and looked completely hopeless. But square them off against the Giants and all of a sudden they’re the 2009 New York Yankees.

If I sound like a bitter Giants fan, it’s because I am. Did I expect Zito to win today? No. But again, considering he’s done nothing for that team on the field, I was holding out hope that maybe he’d surprise me. I was holding out hope that he could put it all together, overcome all the struggles he’s had in San Francisco and just rise to the top one time. Just one time.

But no. In the end, he was Barry Zito.

If the Giants somehow overcome the greatest team in baseball history and magically make the playoffs, here’s hoping Madison Bumgarner makes the starting rotation and not this John Mayer wanna be.

Giants Baseball: Torture.

August 19th seems like a decade ago.

That’s when the San Diego Padres, who had just won five straight, had a commanding six-game lead over NL West rivals the San Francisco Giants. The Friars were 26 games above .500 at that point and given the strength of their pitching, they seemed destined for a playoff spot.

It’s October 1st and now the Padres are clinging to desperation after losing three of four to the second-to-last-place Cubs. With just three games to play in the regular season, they’re three games back of the Giants in the West and two games back of the Braves in the Wildcard (who will take on the Phillies’ scrubs over the next three days). They’re just 5-5 in their last 10 games, while San Fran is 8-2.

Six days ago they were just a half game back of the Giants and with the lowly Cubs coming to down, they had an opportunity to potentially take the division lead back. But with their season on the line, the Padres only mustered five runs over a four-game stretch and the Cubs took three of four at Petco Park.

The Padres now have to sweep the Giants and hope to win a one-game playoff in San Diego on Monday. It’s hard enough to beat a team three times in a row and four times seems nearly impossible. The good news is that the Padres have swept the Giants twice this year, but those were different teams back then. All you need to know about that San Francisco team was that Bengie Molina was still the cleanup hitter.

There’s still hope for the Padres, but the time is now. Two of their top guns, Clayton Richard and Mat Latos, will take the hill in two of the three games, but the key is the offense. The Giants had the best team ERA in the major leagues last month and if the Cubs’ pitching could shut San Diego’s offense down, what do you think San Fran’s will do to them?

If the Padres are going to make the playoffs, they’ll have to erase a month and a half of poor play in four days. But for them, the only way to approach this situation is one game at a time, starting tonight in the “City by the Bay.”

Things have shifted a lot in MLB since I took a hiatus last weekend. Wow, have they ever shifted. The Rockies have now lost 5 in a row and are fading out of the race. The Phillies have won 11 in a row to take over the top spot. The Rays are ahead of the Yankees now in the AL East and the Twins are as hot as the Phils. The Braves are whopping 7 games back of the Phillies now. Damn, this is getting fun.

1. Philadelphia Phillies (93-61)—Peaking but maybe too soon. Still, when you have Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels, it’s not really fair. And everyone else is getting healthy now.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (92-61)—They finally overtake the Yanks, but have company up here. Still, they’ve been consistent all year and they have David Price at the top of their rotation.

3. Minnesota Twins (92-61)—Even without Justin Morneau, this is a very dangerous team. But are they peaking too soon as well?

4. New York Yankees (92-62)—When I heard the New York sports talk guys being all gloom and doom after a split with the Rays this past week, I didn’t understand it. But when you look at the remaining schedules of both teams, you get it. A loss to Boston last night probably didn’t do much for Yankees fans’ confidence.

5. San Francisco Giants (87-67)—Making for one of the most compelling pennant races, because the winner will move on while the loser may not even take the wild card.

6. San Diego Padres (86-67)—Looking back, that long losing streak came at the right time, and the wrong time, at the same time.

7. Cincinnati Reds (86-68)—The magic number is 3. I wonder if Brandon Phillips will get a Christmas card from the Cardinals’ organization this year.

8. Atlanta Braves (86-68)—Now trailing in the wild card race by a half-game. This is another compelling race that shouldn’t have been so compelling, but seriously, how do you hold off the Phils and that pitching staff?

9. Texas Rangers (85-68)—Magic number is 2, will they be the second team to clinch?

10. Boston Red Sox (85-68)—I don’t think they’ve officially been eliminated yet, but it’s getting very, very late. And what a shame for a team that really is as talented as most of the teams on this Top 10 list.

The deal isn’t completed yet, but once it is the Diamondbacks should reap the rewards of hiring a man that should still be employed by the Padres.

Kevin Towers led the Padres to four division championships and an appearance in the 1998 World Series when he was their general manager from 1995 until he was fired in October of last year. He was let go after two losing seasons in 2008 and 2009, yet before he was canned he built the team that has shocked everyone in 2010. (As of this writing, the Padres are clinging to a one-game lead in the NL West.)

Towers was the person that traded for Adrian Gonzalez following the 2004 season – the same deal that also brought starter Chris Young to San Diego. He also drafted Jake Peavy in the 15th round (472nd overall) of the 1999 MLB Draft and then traded him to the White Sox for, among others, starter Clayton Richard, who is now a valuable piece of the Padres’ future.

San Diego is in first place right now largely because of the success of Richard and Mat Latos (another one of Towers’ draft picks), an outstanding bullpen, Gonzalez and Jon Garland.

Outside of Garland, Towers had a hand in all of the above factors that have attributed to the Padres’ success in 2010. When he left, the San Diego front office did next to nothing to improve the team in the offseason and even thought about trading Gonzalez on several occasions last winter.

Granted, Towers is just one man and it takes a team of scouts and personnel directors to run a baseball team. But given his track record, two losing seasons shouldn’t have cost him his job in San Diego.

No matter – he’s going to be Arizona’s GM soon enough and considering the Diamondbacks are a team that has underachieved over the last couple of seasons, he’s the right man for the job. The club needs an experienced leader – someone that know how to build through the draft and with youth – and that’s what they’ll get out of Towers.

It might take a year or two, but Arizona should be competing again soon.

The Yankees just keep winning, and suddenly the Padres keep losing, sitting with an 8-game losing streak, but still clinging to a three-game lead over the Giants. We may wind up with very few pennant races, but we are likely to have lots of new match-ups in the postseason this year. For that, I’m excited. And let me go out on a limb here. Watch out for the Rockies. They have this knack for winning 98% of their games in September and climbing fast in the standings.

1. New York Yankees (85-50)—They haven’t lost since I did my last rankings. The Rays caught up, but then the Yanks jumped back out to a 1.5-game lead. I know I’ve been high on the Rays, but the Yankees ain’t gonna fold. And CC for Cy Young?

2. Tampa Bay Rays (83-51)—With a 7-game lead in the wild card, that’s got to be what the Rays are gunning for. And they’d have to suffer a major collapse for that to happen at this point.

3. Cincinnati Red (78-56)—No longer a flash in the pan, the Reds are not just for real, they are striking fear in every other MLB team. How about the addition of Aroldis Chapman? Did anyone thing he would be helping this team in a pennant race in September?

4. Minnesota Twins (78-57)—The White Sox have Manny Ramirez now, but that won’t stop the Twins from pulling away this month.

5. Atlanta Braves (78-57)—Hanging tough as the Phillies make a charge. This could be one division race worth biting your nails over.

6. San Diego Padres (76-57)—Speaking of biting nails, how are you Padres’ fans feeling these days? Yikes.

7. Texas Rangers (75-59)—Now with a 9-game lead, Nolan Ryan can print those playoff tickets.

8. Philadelphia Phillies (77-58)—This team has caught fire at the right time, and we all knew they had it in them. One game back, and the Braves could wind up missing the postseason entirely after a great year.

9. Boston Red Sox (76-58)—A good season, and they’d be in the divisional hunt in every other division but the AL East.

10. San Francisco Giants (74-61)—With the Padres losing 8 in a row, the Giants have still not been able to capitalize. And now they trail the Phillies by 3 games in the wild card hunt.

Wow, things are getting wild. The Rays and Yanks are now tied for first in the AL East, and the Red Sox are not going away. The Padres have a commanding 6-game lead. The Braves have lost four straight, but the Phils could not capitalize. The Reds are hot and the Cards are not. The Twins and Rangers have not been hurt by recent mediocre play. So there you have it, and here you have your power rankings….

1. New York Yankees (78-50)—It was only a matter of time before the Rays caught up, but until Tampa goes ahead in the standings, the Bombers are still the team to beat.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (78-50)—Joe Maddon’s team sure doesn’t mess around, do they?

3. San Diego Padres (76-51)—If you keep waiting for the Padres to come back down to earth, you’re going to be waiting until possibly November.

4. Minnesota Twins (74-55)—Watch out for this team in the postseason. All of a sudden, with Brian Fuentes and Matt Capps, they have a pretty sick bullpen. Joe Nathan who?

5. Texas Rangers (73-55)—Josh Hamilton has an excellent shot at the triple crown, and this lineup has to send shivers through the collective spine of the Yankees’ pitching staff.

6. Cincinnati Red (74-54)—Speaking of triple crown, how about Joey Freaking Votto?

7. Atlanta Braves (73-55)—They can’t sustain losing streaks at this point in the season, but are still hanging tough.

8. Boston Red Sox (74-55)—In what other division can you be 19 games over .500 and in THIRD place?

9. Philadelphia Phillies (71-57)—They had their chance to close the gap this past week, and blew it.

10. San Francisco Giants (71-58)—Lots of talent, but can they put it all together? P.S. What is wrong with Tim Lincecum?

With football season upon us, that’s when baseball gets real interesting. To me, there is no better time of year than that first weekend in October when you have four MLB playoff series and a full slate of NFL games. As for the pennant races, they’re starting to shift and some teams are beginning to pull away while others lose hold on their position…

1. New York Yankees (75-47)—A one-game lead but the Mariners are in town this weekend, so it’s as good a time as any to start padding the margin over the Rays and Sox again.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (74-48)—Still hanging on, as the Yankees continue to look in their collective rear-view mirror.

3. San Diego Padres (73-48)—The Giants had their five-game winning streak, and the Padres answered with one of their own, widening their late August lead to 6 games over the G-men until losing last night. Is there any question about manager of the year here?

4. Atlanta Braves (72-50)—Bobby Cox hopes his team will feast on Cubs’ pitching at Wrigley while the Phils face the Nats at home.

5. Texas Rangers (68-53)—The Rangers lost four in a row this past week but still have a seven-game lead over the A’s and Angels. I’d say they have nothing to worry about.

6. Minnesota Twins (71-51)—As we suspected, the Twins keep adding to their lead, now 4.5 games over the White Sox.

7. Cincinnati Red (71-51)—Just when the Cardinals made a statement, the Reds have now won 7 in a row while St. Louis has lost 5 straight, giving Dusty Baker’s boys a 4.5 game lead and increasing the chances Brandon Phillips will start smack-talking again, if he hasn’t already.

8. Boston Red Sox (69-54)—Time is running out on the Sox, and also on Roger Clemens’ days as a free man.

9. Philadelphia Phillies (69-52)—They’ve stayed hot, but so have the Braves. Do you think the Phils wish they still had Cliff Lee?

10. San Francisco Giants (69-54)—Only trailing Philly in the wild card chase by one game, two in the loss column. But a recent slide took them out of that spot and their hopes of a division crown are fading away.

Pennant races are heating up, brawls are starting to happen, and the Padres still have the best record in the National League. Ah, the dog days of summer. However, not much has changed in the upper half of our power rankings, and hasn’t for well over a month now…..

1. New York Yankees (71-44)—I’ve been touting the Rays for a while now, and I won’t back down from that, but the Yankees sure aren’t letting go of the top spot.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (69-46)—All that talent, and yet they were almost no-hit for the third time last Sunday. Something’s not quite right with the Rays’ bats.

3. Texas Rangers (66-48)—They seem to be coasting now, and with an 8.5 game lead, they can afford to do that a bit. The Rangers still have the largest lead of any division front runner.

4. San Diego Padres (68-46)—A five-game win streak has the Giants gasping for air again. Raise your hand if you keep thinking the other shoe is going to drop. I thought so. But it still hasn’t.

5. Atlanta Braves (67-48)—Bobby Cox’ team had a huge blow with Chipper Jones out for the season, but this is a talented roster top to bottom, so they should hang in there against a charge from the Phillies.

6. Boston Red Sox (66-51)—It’s getting to the point that the Sox have to win every game to stay in contention. Or at least every series. .

7. St. Louis Cardinals (65-49)—They absolutely bitch slapped the Reds, sweeping them after Brandon Phillips ran his mouth. Now that’s the mark of a Tony LaRuss-run team.

8. Minnesota Twins (66-50)—They have a hold on first place now, and they aren’t going to let go. Do you hear that, White Sox fans?

9. San Francisco Giants (66-51)—Little losses here and there are keeping the Giants from catching San Diego. But they still lead the wild card chase.

10. Philadelphia Phillies (64-51)—They are getting healthy and hot, and that’s not a great sign for the Braves.