Rangers eyeing Buchholz

The Boston Red Sox roster now features a smorgasboard of starting pitching thanks to the signing of John Smoltz. Mike Hindman of the Dallas Morning News believes the Rangers are after fading phenom Clay Buchholz, who would seem to be one of the odd men out in the Red Sox roatation this year.

The prevailing thought has long been that Texas wants the Nederland, Texas native Buchholz (Nolan Ryan let it slip that he thought Buchholz would look good in a Rangers uniform) and Boston wants the Carrollton native Taylor Teagarden.

Both Texas and Boston have given indication that those players are not available. My guess -- and it's just a guess -- is that Jon Daniels and Theo Epstein are quibbling over what extra piece(s) Texas would have to add to Jarrod Saltalamacchia in order to get Buchholz.

How this all plays out for Texas may depend on what happens with veteran catcher Jason Varitek. If Boston can land him on a two year deal, I suspect that they will pull back, limp along with the declining leader for another couple of years and then pounce on Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer when he becomes a free agent after the 2010 season.

I'm not sure teams think as far ahead as 2011 on free agent signings, but who knows? Buchholz for Saltalamacchia seems good to me straight up. Texas shouldn't not throw in more unless it's on the cheap.

Three AFL amigos

No surprise that three of the five pitchers leading the Arizona Fall League after just a couple of starts each are players who got a cup of coffee in MLB this year.

Phil Hughes and Clay Buchholz have combined to give up one run (Hughes' run) in 18 innings. Max Scherzer has given up three runs in 12 innings and struck out 12.

Scherzer looked pretty strong at the Major League level this year, and might've stayed with Arizona for longer had he not experienced some arm troubles. Hughes struggled, although he, too, wasn't healthy. Buchholz showed a couple of flashes with the Red Sox, but there's a good reason he's not on the postseason roster: he wasn't very good (2-9, 6.75 ERA) most of the time.

Fantasy Update:Scherzer deserves a serious look from the Diamondbacks in spring training. The other two have the stuff to be MLB starters, but if the Yankees and Red Sox do some offseason spending on their respective rotations, they might be left out of the mix. Does that make them trade bait?