Red Sox one of two finalists for Gio Gonzalez

The Oakland Athletics are on the verge of trading prized left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez, a baseball source told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney, and are expected to make a decision Thursday between offers from the Washington Nationals and another team.

That second team is apparently the Boston Red Sox.

Despite earlier reports suggesting that the Red Sox had decided the cost in talent would be too high, the 26-year-old Gonzalez remains the team's top target, multiple Sox sources told ESPNBoston.com on Thursday.

Sox prospect Will Middlebrooks would be the main piece going back to Oakland.