BOSTON — In all likelihood, the Red Sox will decide between remaining in Lee County and moving their spring training headquarters to Sarasota sometime over the next 30 days.

Negotiations continue between the ball club and the two Florida communities. The Red Sox have a buyout clause that could allow them to escape their current lease in Fort Myers, Fla., at the end of next year, though it’s unlikely the team could relocate before the spring of 2011.

Sarasota has emerged as a bidder for the Red Sox spring training home over the last week as the city scrambles to replace the Cincinnati Reds, who are leaving their spring home of the last 10 years for Arizona.

Red Sox chief operating officer Mike Dee says Sarasota has shown “a lot of interest,” in attracting the Sox some 80 miles up Florida’s Gulf Coast from their current spring training site.

The Sox would require a new site to replace the current facility, Ed Smith Stadium. The team wants expanded capacity, a complex to house the major league and minor league players and land to develop around the complex.

Sarasota offers the additional benefit of being within an hour’s drive of seven other Grapefruit League teams. In Fort Myers, which the Sox share with the Minnesota Twins, the next closest spring training site is Sarasota itself, although the Tampa Bay Rays plan to move into the vacant complex in nearby Port Charlotte next spring.

If the Sox decide to remain in southwest Florida, it’s likely that the team would build a new complex in the Estero-Bonita Springs area, some 10-12 miles south of Fort Myers. The current complex, City of Palms Park, is just outside downtown Fort Myers and offers little room for expansion.

Fruits of the farm

The Red Sox have made no secret of their focus on developing their own players. The scouting department has a big reason to be smiling right now.

Someone did research on what took place last week, when Craig Hansen was briefly recalled. He was drafted in 2005. So were Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz and Jed Lowrie. They were taken in the first four rounds.

According to the researchers, it marked the first time any team has ever had its top four draft choices in the majors together, and all appearing for at least one game, within three years of the draft.

Injury bug continues to bite

Jacoby Ellsbury (groin) and J.D. Drew (quad) both did some pre-game work. They appear to be progressing well but neither started. Coco Crisp has some discomfort with a knee, but he did play.

“He’s a little sore,” Francona said. “He’s OK to play or we wouldn’t play him. We would do something different.”