Red Sox exercise 2018 option on manager Farrell’s contract

The reloading Red Sox pulled off the biggest deal yet at the winter meetings, acquiring the dominant ace from the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday for a hefty package of four prospects. Moncada is thought by many to be the top prospect in all of baseball, and Kopech can reach 100+ miles per hour on the radar gun.

“I know about Dexter”, manager Mike Matheny said. “I really thought for sure he was going to end up in Washington”. The one time Boston did not exercise Francona’s option ahead of time and allowed him to manage as a lame duck was before the 2011 season.

“I don’t want to be that to be my ceiling”. He’s never pitched in the playoffs, and while Chicago is a big market, the interest in the White Sox doesn’t come close to matching what their cousins-in-hosiery endure here in Boston.

At his charity golf tournament last week in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz was asked whether he would consider coming out of retirement if the Red Sox offered him a one-year contract for insane money – say, $25 million. With his height, power arm and long blonde hair, he has been compared to Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard. He was suspended for 50 games in July 2015 after testing positive for Oxilofrine, a stimulant that’s banned.

But Kopech says he’s used that time away not only to improve on the mound, but also as learning experiences in order to mature. The White Sox took him with the 13th overall pick in the draft that June, and by August, he was in the majors.

“I would think that the expectations on the Red Sox are sky high”, Cashman said. So this half of the year was very important for me. “I’ve always just heard great things”. “Whatever the number of players that build a team, it’s more about the collective, building the best possible team year in and year out and what gives us the best chance to sustain that year in and year out”.

But in a brief stint in the majors this season, Moncada batted.211 with one RBI in eight games. It’s not quite unanimous, but many believe Moncada is the top prospect in all of baseball. Boston’s like the Golden State Warriors now in baseball; they’ve got their [Kevin] Durant, their [Draymond] Green, [Klay] Thompson and [Stephen] Curry.

He’s an absolute steal, money-wise, for the Sox, but will he prove to be their new face of the franchise? “They drafted me in the first round when people had questions”.

He preached competition in the spring and didn’t play favorites, handing the third-base job to Travis Shaw when Shaw outplayed Pablo Sandoval.

“If I get an opportunity to play every day, I can improve”, he told reporters on Wednesday.

He said that reality hit home upon receiving texts from White Sox teammates, including reliever Nate Jones. “My priority is to help the team”.

Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu are back together.

Moncada said Abreu sent him a congratulatory text following the blockbuster trade, welcoming him to Chicago.

Right-handed pitching prospect Michael Kopech is also included in the deal, giving the White Sox a really good pitcher for the future.