The Boston Red Sox Tuesday, March 31, 2020

* The Boston Globe

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale undergoes Tommy John surgery

Peter Abraham and Alex Speier

The Red Sox decided back on March 19 that ace lefthander Chris Sale would undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow. Typically, his torn ligament would have been reconstructed a few days later to start the clock on a rehabilitation process that typically lasts 14-15 months.

But with medical resources stretched thin in parts of the country because of the coronavirus pandemic, the surgery did not happen until Monday morning in Los Angeles as the needs of a baseball team became entangled in medical ethics.

"Needless to say these are not normal times,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. "As a society we are facing some difficult challenges. We knew that to schedule this or any surgery would not be routine, that there might be scheduling or logistical difficulties.”

Noted orthopedic surgeon James Andrews treated Sale when the pitcher first injured his elbow last season. But Andrews, who is based in Gulf Breeze, Fla., was not available for the surgery.

A spokesman said his clinic suspended elective procedures to comply with an executive order from Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis related to the pandemic.

That order, issued on March 20, prohibited "any medically unnecessary, non-urgent or non-emergency procedure or surgery which, if delayed, does not place a patient’s immediate health, safety or well-being at risk, or will, if delayed, not contribute to the worsening of a serious or life-threatening medical condition.”

There were no such restrictions in California and Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery at the Kerlan- Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

ElAttrache consulted on the case in March when Sale re-injured his elbow while facing hitters for the first time in 6½ months.

"It was important to all of us to do this in a way that would not place any undue burden on anyone suffering because of the coronavirus,” said Bloom, who spoke to ElAttrache to get that assurance.

Asked what factors played into that determination, Bloom said the surgery was necessary for Sale to continue in his profession.

"We know that this is not life and death and that there are people who are suffering in situations that are life and death,” he said. "We’re aware it’s apples and oranges when you talk about this as opposed to something that’s life-threatening.”

Sale, who turned 31 on Monday, could return in June of 2021. In the meantime, he will stay his home in Naples, Fla., and rehab with the help of members of the Sox medical staff who live in the area.

The Fenway South complex remains closed in the wake of a minor league player having tested positive for COVID-19. But it could reopen only for injured players as soon as next week.

That minor league player, who has not been identified, is doing well and no other players had symptoms that required a test.

General manger Brian O’Halloran said fewer than 10 players in the organization remain in the Fort Myers area outside of those who reside there.

Sale went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA last year before getting shut down in August with what the team said was inflammation in his elbow. He received a PRP injection from Andrews and was told to rest.

Sale had a normal offseason buildup but suffered a setback when he threw live batting practice in spring training. That changed after he tried throwing again 18 days later and immediately felt discomfort in his elbow that made the need for surgery obvious.

The Red Sox signed Sale to a five-year, $145 million contact extension that was set to start this season. But under an agreement reached by Major League Baseball and the Players Association, all salaries will be prorated dependent on how many games are played this season.

If the season were canceled, players with guaranteed contracts would receive $150,000.

Two other injured players, righthander Collin McHugh (flexor tendon strain) and outfielder Alex Verdugo (stress fracture in is back), are doing well according to Bloom. McHugh has not started throwing, however.

This would be a good time to release the findings on the Red Sox and Patriots investigations

Dan Shaughnessy

Picked-up pieces while playing James Harden defense — 6 feet away from everybody …

So many scandals, so little news:

▪ Now is a perfect time for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to drop the hammer on the 2018 Red Sox. The commish says that the investigation has been completed, and nobody is really paying attention, so let’s get it over with and get on with our lives.

The Sox’ transgressions are unlikely to be anywhere near Houston’s trash-can cheating of 2017, but they likely weren’t “nothing” as the Sox have claimed. Best to learn of their punishment now. It will allow them to strike “interim” from manager Ron Roenicke’s nameplate, and we’ll finally learn how long MLB plans to bench Alex Cora.

In the week before camps closed, Roenicke said the Sox were looking for some closure on the issue. We have “reserved judgment” long enough. Release the findings.

▪ Similarly, now would be a good time for Roger Goodell to tell the world that even though the Patriots broke videotaping rules in the press box in Cincinnati, Spygate 2 was not a Bill Belichick-driven scheme to gain any competitive advantage. Announce the findings/penalties so the Patriots know whether they’re losing any picks before the April 23-25 draft.

▪ On May 21, a Florida appellate court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the appeal of an evidence ruling in Bob Kraft’s misdemeanor prostitution case stemming from the incident at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter. The Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach will hear arguments regarding video surveillance footage that was tossed last May.

▪ Terry Bradshaw on Tom Brady in The Athletic: "Why in the world does he want to keep on playing at 43 other than to prove to New England he’s more important than Bill Belichick? . . . Why the hell do you want to go to Tampa? The only thing I can think of is ego gets involved and you decide, ‘I’ll show ‘em who’s more important.’ ’’

▪ What about the goofy quote Kraft delivered to the NFL Network? Explaining Brady’s departure from New England, the owner said, "Think about loving your wife and for whatever reason, there’s something — her father or mother — that makes life impossible for you and you have to move on, but you don’t want to.''

Say what? Was Kraft blaming Belichick as the nasty father-in-law?

▪ I could do without Brady and the folks at TB12 promoting a better path to immunity during the coronavirus crisis. Last week, Brady posted an Instagram story in which he featured his branded supplements under a headline of "immune enhancers.''

MassLive’s Nick O’Malley wrote, "It’s one thing for Brady to promote healthy living. It’s another to use the phrase ’immune enhancers’ for his TB12 Wellness Bundle that currently retails for $147 on his website.''

▪ Quiz: Name four major league pitchers who struck out 20 batters in the first nine innings of a game (answer below).

▪ Loved seeing the Patriots come back from 28-3 again Sunday on Fox. Hated seeing the Bucky Dent game a couple more times on MLB Network.

It was amazing to see how many players choked up on the bat in 1978. The Red Sox had an All-MVP starting outfield of Yaz (1967), Fred Lynn (1975), and Jim Rice (1978). Underrated Jerry Remy had two clutch hits off Hall of Famer Rich Gossage in the final two innings of the biggest game of his life.

Watching the 1986 World Series was equally painful. MLB Network re-ran some updated interviews, including one in which Sox manager John McNamara was as despicable as ever. Explaining why he left Bill Buckner on the field in the bottom of the 10th of Game 6, Mac claimed Dave Stapleton’s nickname was "Shaky.'’ Hearing tape of Mac’s lame excuse, Bruce Hurst immediately said, "I never heard anybody call him that.''

▪ Don’t buy into the myth that the Red Sox got shortchanged in the strike-shortened season of 1972. The popular narrative holds that the Sox got jobbed because they played one fewer game than the Tigers. Indeed, the Sox finished second at 85-70 while the Tigers went 86-70 and represented the AL East in the ALCS.

All true. But not the whole story.

The Red Sox went to Detroit for the final three games of that strike-shortened season and both teams knew that whoever won at least two of three would go to the playoffs. The Tigers eliminated the Red Sox by winning the first two games. This led to a season finale in which the Tigers, having already clinched, rested their regulars. The Sox won the meaningless game, 4-1. It pulled them within a half-game, but there’s no way of knowing who would have won that game if it meant anything.

▪ The Cooperstown-record crowd for a Hall of Fame induction, estimated at 82,000, was set in 2007 when Cal Ripken Jr. was inducted along with Tony Gwynn. Derek Jeter and his fellow honorees might have smashed that this summer, but it now appears unlikely.

“We’re still hoping and planning to have our weekend as usual,” said Hall director Tim Mead.

Hope he’s right, but it’s hard to imagine the crowd size will not be affected even if the Hall is able to have its annual event.

▪ The original baseball schedule had the Astros playing at Oakland Monday. It would have been the first opportunity for Houston players to lay eyes on A’s pitcher Mike Fiers, their former teammate who blew the whistle on their cheating ways.

▪ Donovan Mitchell Sr., the father of the Utah Jazz All-Star who tested positive for coronavirus, is director of community relations for the New York Mets.

▪ Books to reread while you are self-distancing: Mark Leibovich’s hilarious "Big Game.'' Jackie MacMullan’s "When the Game Was Ours.'' Jane Leavy’s “Sandy Koufax” or “The Last Boy — Mickey Mantle.” Ian O’Connor’s "Belichick.'' And there’s always Jim Bouton’s "Ball Four.''

▪ RIP Ted Cox and Curly Neal. Cox, who died March 11, had six straight hits when he broke in with the Red Sox in 1977, then became part of the trade that brought Dennis Eckersley to Boston from Cleveland. Neal, the dazzling dribbler from the Harlem Globetrotters, died last Thursday at the age of 77. Isiah Thomas said Neal and Marques Haynes "taught me how to dribble.''

▪ Brady’s ongoing adulation of Antonio Brown is curious and offensive on multiple levels. It was good to hear that the Bucs will not be taking a chance on the nefarious wideout.

▪ Only Red Sox fans of a certain age will understand why I always think of Ned Martin when I hear Roy Orbison’s classic, "Pretty Woman.'' Mercy.

▪ Quiz answer: Roger Clemens (twice), Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, Max Scherzer.

Dr. James Andrews suspends Tommy John surgeries at his offices

Alex Speier

With questions being raised as to whether athletes should have orthopedic operations such as Tommy John surgery at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing, the best-known practitioner of the procedure has stopped performing it for the time being.

A spokesperson for the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Florida — the facility where Dr. James Andrews performs ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (better known as Tommy John surgery) — said the Institute has stopped performing the procedure at this time.

“We are not performing any non-urgent or non-emergent procedures, including Tommy John surgery, in compliance with the governor’s executive order,” the spokesperson wrote. ”We are adhering to these restrictions and all such cases are suspended at this time.”

The decision to suspend such surgeries represents an effort to comply with an executive order issued earlier this month by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. That order, which was issued March 20, prohibits "any medically unnecessary, non-urgent or non-emergency procedure or surgery which, if delayed, does not place a patient’s immediate health, safety or wellbeing at risk, or will, if delayed, not contribute to the worsening of a serious or life-threatening medical condition.”

Other doctors have performed Tommy John surgeries in recent weeks. The Red Sox announced that Chris Sale had the surgery done Monday in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek performed the surgery last week on righthander Noah Syndergaard at the Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach, Fla.

* The Boston Herald

Red Sox LHP Chris Sale undergoes successful Tommy John surgery

Steve Hewitt

The mystery surrounding the details of Chris Sale’s Tommy John surgery has finally been solved.

After saying that Sale would need the surgery 11 days ago, the Red Sox stayed tight-lipped about it until Monday, when they announced their ace successfully underwent the operation on Monday morning — which was also Sale’s birthday. The procedure to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

The Red Sox waited to share details of Sale’s surgery due to various issues at play, mostly the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has complicated surgical procedures that may be viewed as elective surgeries. Elective surgeries have been suspended in some areas of the country and the team wanted to be cautious about putting anyone at risk in the midst of a global health crisis.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said that when the team announced Sale needed surgery on March 19, it hadn’t been scheduled yet.

“Needless to say, these are not normal times,” Bloom said. “As a society, we are facing some difficult challenges. We knew that to schedule this or any surgery right now would not be routine, that there might be scheduling or logistical difficulties. Neither we nor Chris wanted to work through any of those potential hurdles in public so we chose to stay quiet until the surgery was complete.

“We understand that choice is not ideal for our fans and for those following us. We did it only to avoid unnecessary daily speculation regarding the logistics. As I said earlier this month, it was important to all of us to do this in a way that would not place any undo burden on anyone suffering because of the coronavirus.”

Bloom said it was his understanding that Dr. James Andrews, the renowned sports orthopedic surgeon who has advised Sale through the duration of his elbow problems that started late last season, was not doing surgeries of this kind right now during the pandemic. But ElAttrache has also been working with Sale throughout the process and was obviously willing to perform the surgery.

Asked if discussions with ElAttrache determined that the surgery wasn’t as much of an elective surgery as it was essential to Sale’s livelihood, Bloom didn’t want to get too much into details.

“I don’t want to get too caught up in the semantics here,” Bloom said. “Obviously it is important and even necessary to his livelihood but we know this is not life and death and there are people who are suffering in situations that are life and death and that’s why it was important for us to make sure we weren’t putting any burden on the health system that would be a negative for people who are battling the coronavirus or any other ailment. So it’s certainly something we all know is necessary for his livelihood but we’re aware it’s apples and oranges when you talk about this versus something that’s life-threatening.”

Sale now begins a long road to recovery. Generally, Bloom said, recovery from Tommy John surgery takes around 14 months. If that’s the case with Sale, a realistic target date for his return would be in June 2021.

“Some guys come back quicker,” Bloom said. “Some guys take a little longer, obviously depending on how the rehab proceeds if there are any bumps in the road that they encounter. Typically that 14-month range or so is where it lands.”

Sale, who resides in Fort Myers, Florida, will soon return there and Bloom said that’s where his rehab will take place. Even though JetBlue Park is closed for the time being, Bloom said it’s a possibility he could be hosted there, and if not, they’ll make necessary arrangements for him. He said some staff members have remained in Florida and will be available for him.

Sale’s rehab plan has yet to be mapped out, but Bloom said he and his staff are working on that. He said it will be a “little while” before the lefty is throwing and that the early stage of rehab is mostly devoted to range of motion exercises and conditioning.

“We’re fortunate that we do have some of our staff who are in the area for him,” Bloom said. “They will help him to the best of their ability. Our training staff all the way up through (head trainer) Brad Pearson will stay in close contact with Chris and with the staff working closest with him obviously making sure we’re doing everything we can for him. Some things require a little more hands-on care than others. We’re going to make sure he gets that care. …

“We know how driven (Sale) is to do it right. We’re eager to see him on the Fenway mound again when it’s time.”

Boston’s top 10 athletes, No. 4: No. 9 Ted Williams

Tom Keegan

Anyone lucky enough to meet his boyhood idol tends to remember it forever. Dennis Gilbert, then a Red Sox minor-league outfielder in his first spring training in the late ’60s in Ocala, has no trouble recounting the details of his experience.

He and a few other young outfielders were sitting in a semicircle when none other than the great Ted Williams, also known as the greatest hitter who ever lived, introduced himself: “Gentlemen, I’m Teddy (Bleepin’) Ballgame. I’m going to teach you (bleepin’) outfielders how to catch a (bleepin’) flyball.”

Williams had three baseballs in one hand, Gilbert said, a fungo bat in the other. Speed was the tool that earned Gilbert his shot. At Gardena High in Southern California, he ran the first leg of a 4×110-meter relay team anchored by 1972 400-meter silver medalist Wayne Collett.

“He had us standing in right field and he’s hitting shots to center that nobody could come close to,” Gilbert said. “Then he says, ‘The first one of you (bleepin’) outfielders who can (bleepin’) catch a flyball, Teddy Ballgame is going to buy you a Cadillac.’ He was hitting shots, and I mean I’ve never seen anybody hit a ball like Ted Williams could with a fungo. Well, I got a really good jump on one and I’m going full speed and I dive and I catch one.”

The engine of a brand new Cadillac revved in the outfielder’s head.

“Ted’s waving me in and I’m screaming, ‘I won a Cadillac. I won a Cadillac.’ I get in and I look up at him,” Gilbert said. “ ‘Hand me the ball.’ I hand him the ball and, ‘Boom! Double or nothing.’”

No Cadillac, but Gilbert wouldn’t trade that memory for a fleet of luxury cars.

One more story.

“We would break up into a couple of teams in spring training,” Gilbert said. “I was on Ted’s team this day and Jackie Moore had the other team. I hit a shot to right-center field. No fences out there, so I’m running like hell, looking for an inside-the-parker. Ted puts up the stop sign and I go through it. He comes into the dugout, and he doesn’t undress me, but he says a few things. And he’s trying to make me feel good, telling me I hit the ball real well and all that.”

Next time up, Gilbert was eager to impress the greatest hitter who ever lived one more time.

“I hit the ball in the same exact spot,” Gilbert said. “So he puts up the stop sign and I run through it again and he tackles me. It was a full-on body tackle. And everyone’s laughing. He’s on top of me just laughing his ass off.”

Teddy Ballgame: Loud, larger than life, avid fisherman, always up for talking about hitting the baseball, whether it was with a fellow batting champion like Tony Gwynn or a group of Red Sox minor leaguers.

“He would have us zone the ball,” Gilbert said. “You look at where you can handle any type of pitch in a certain spot. You look for the pitch at that spot, that zone. If the pitch wasn’t in that zone, you’d spit on it. That was his term: ‘If it’s not in your zone, spit on it.’”

The advice didn’t get Gilbert to the major leagues, but if he wants to buy a Cadillac he won’t need to finance it. A baseball agent until he left that end of the business after the 1999 season and special assistant to White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf since 2002, Gilbert was to baseball agents in the 20th century what Scott Boras is to them now. He was part of the Beverly Hills Sports council, representing the likes of George Brett, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Jose Canseco, Rickey Henderson, Mike Piazza and Albert Pujols.

In negotiating contracts for players and then management, Gilbert has relied heavily on using comparables, and would seem particularly well suited to take a stab at what kind of money the Splendid Splinter would make in today’s game.

“There are no comps for Ted Williams,” Gilbert said.

So how much would he make?

“More,” Gilbert said.

As in more than anybody ever has made.

Williams won the Triple Crown twice (1942, 1947), led the American League in runs six times, home runs and RBI four times. He won six batting titles and had the league’s highest OPS in 10 different seasons.

Is he the greatest hitter who ever lived? Tough call between Ted and Babe Ruth. By the way, Ruth isn’t eligible for this series on Boston’s top 10 team-sport athletes because he doesn’t meet the requirement of having played more games for a Boston team than any other.

It’s a difficult statistical comparison because Williams, a pilot in the military, missed three full seasons (1943-45) fighting in World War II and was limited to 43 games in two seasons in (1952-53) fighting in the Korean Conflict. So he missed more than 700 games. Based on the rate that he hit home runs throughout his career, Williams would have hit an estimated 680 home runs, instead of the 521 he hit, if he had played in 700 more games.

Babe slashed .342/.474/690 and Ted slashed .344/.482/634. Very similar, and that doesn’t account for whatever rust (very little, it seemed) that Williams had to knock off after returning from his two stints of military service.

His first, which cost him three seasons, started two years after Williams hit .406, the last player to eclipse the .400 milestone, and right after his first Triple Crown. He famously hit a home run in his final at bat in 1960. Jack Fisher, born five weeks before Williams made his debut in 1939, was the pitcher.

Williams’ most famous quote: “A man has to have goals, for a day, for a lifetime, and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’”

They were saying it then. Sixty years after his final season, they’re still saying it.

* The Providence Journal

Sale undergoes elbow surgery

Bill Koch

Chris Sale underwent Tommy John surgery on Monday.

The Red Sox left-hander had the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow repaired by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. The procedure was performed at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

Boston announced the operation in a two-sentence email on Monday evening. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O’Halloran confirmed on March 19 that Sale would require surgery after unsuccessful attempts to rehabilitate his ailing elbow.

“Chris will return to Florida soon to begin his rehab,” Bloom said on Monday night. “It’s a long process, but we know how driven he is to do this right. We’re eager to see him again on the Fenway mound.”

Sale is likely to be sidelined for anywhere between 12 and 18 months, a time period that will also cost him an undetermined portion of the 2021 campaign. Sale, who turned 31 on Monday, suffered a setback in early March during spring training and made a repeat visit to renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews. ElAttrache was selected to perform the operation with Andrews currently not performing procedures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Both of those guys were very familiar with him,” Bloom said. “Both of them, obviously, are very fine surgeons. Either would have been a perfectly great option for this process.”

Boston said during its initial announcement it would consider the current medical climate when scheduling and executing Sale’s surgery. Bloom spoke with ElAttrache personally to discuss whether or not Sale’s operation would place any undue strain on local medical staffers. Los Angeles County currently recommends — but does not mandate — postponing any elective procedure that falls under that rather broad guideline.

“We knew that to schedule this or any surgery right now would not be routine — that there might be scheduling or logistical difficulties,” Bloom said. “Neither we nor Chris wanted to work through any of those potential hurdles in public, so we chose to stay quiet until the surgery was complete.”

Sale threw 15 pitches of live batting practice at the JetBlue Park complex in Florida, his only work since being shut down last August due to left elbow inflammation. He makes his offseason home near Fort Myers and was reporting regularly to Boston’s spring home for on-field work and treatment. Sale attempted to resume his throwing program two weeks ago before being shut down.

Red Sox general manager Brian O’Halloran said the JetBlue complex remains closed through April 6 after an unnamed Boston minor-leaguer tested positive for the coronavirus. O’Halloran said the player is “doing fine — doing well, generally” and that the Red Sox have had no other positive tests to date. Only rehabbers will be initially allowed back inside the complex when it eventually reopens.

“We’re fortunate that we do have some of our staff in the area in Florida,” Bloom said. “They will help (Sale) to the best of their ability.”

Sale is entering a five-year, $145-million extension that runs through the 2024 season. The Red Sox figure to have just three proven starters available in 2020 if and when baseball resumes. Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez all have proven track records in the major leagues.

Sale’s last game of 2019 came at Cleveland, a 7-6 victory on Aug. 13. He compiled an inflated 4.40 earned- run average and made just 25 starts. It was the first time since the 2011 season that Sale didn’t receive any votes for the American League Cy Young Award.

Sale counts for $25.6 million against the Competitive Balance Tax in each of the next five seasons. Boston will be responsible for a pro-rated portion of that under terms of a deal struck by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association on Friday. Owners set aside $170 million in guaranteed cash for players whether or not a game is played in 2020.

At most, Sale will have three full seasons remaining with the Red Sox after returning to health. His next chance to make as many as 30 starts will come in 2022 — he failed to reach that number just once between 2013-17. The last year of that stretch was Sale’s first with the Red Sox, and he racked up 308 strikeouts in just 214 1/3 innings.

* MassLive.com

Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox ace, undergoes Tommy John surgery despite coronavirus suspending some elective surgeries

Chris Cotillo

Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale underwent successful Tommy John surgery Monday, the club announced. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe was first to report the news. The team announced Sale needed surgery last Thursday but did not share a date for the surgery at that time.

The timeline for Sale’s surgery was complicated by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, which has led many states to suspend elective surgeries in order to devote resources to fighting the pandemic. In the past 10 days, a debate has surfaced over the ethicality of undergoing a procedure like Tommy John at a time when non-professional athletes in need of elective surgeries are not able to have them.

Renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews -- who Sale consulted before deciding to proceed with surgery - - has suspended elective surgeries due to the coronavirus pandemic, an Andrews Institute spokesman told Speier. Los Angeles County, where Sale had his procedure, issued guidelines on elective surgeries last week, providing a gray area in which recommendations -- but not laws -- were made.

Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle last week, Dr. ElAttrache said he considered procedures like Sale’s to be essential -- not elective -- because of their direct impact on patients’ livelihoods.

“I know that I’m going to get criticized for taking care of these kinds of guys, but it’s essential to their livelihoods,” ElAttrache told Hank Schulman. “If you have somebody’s career at stake and they lose two seasons instead of one, I would say that is not a nonessential or unimportant elective procedure."

Sale could miss anywhere from 12 to 18 months due to the procedure, though a more likely timetable for his return lies in the 14-15 month range. Speaking on a conference call shortly after it was announced Sale needed surgery, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the club is operating under the expectation that Sale will miss more than a year.

“It obviously varies," Bloom said. “I think generally, 12 months would be pretty aggressive. Usually, it takes longer than that. You have to make sure you’re doing the buildup properly. I think often, you see 14- 15 months as that midrange. But everybody’s different."

The 14-15 month timetable would put Sale back on a major league mound sometime in June or July of 2021. The left-hander will not pitch this season no matter how many games are played.

Boston Red Sox made sure Chris Sale’s Tommy John surgery wouldn’t have any negative impact on fight against coronavirus: ‘We know this is not life and death,' Chaim Bloom says

Chris Cotillo

As the Red Sox worked to schedule Chris Sale’s Tommy John surgery, they were faced with a number of complicating factors related to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. With elective surgeries suspended in many parts of the country, the club had to ensure any course of action it took would not take any resources or time away from those on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Since first dealing with elbow pain last summer, Sale has worked with two prominent surgeons -- Dr. James Andrews in Florida and Dr. Neal ElAttrache in California -- who were both candidates to do the surgery. Once it became clear Dr. Andrews was no longer performing elective surgeries, the Sox sought out Dr. ElAttrache, who was still performing procedures at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

“It was important to all of us to do this in a way that would not place any undue burden on anyone suffering due to coronavirus,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. “I spoke to Dr. El Attrache personally to make sure that was the case here and he is just as mindful of the considerations that go along with surgery at a time like this. We are obviously appreciative that he was able to the procedure but also that he took the time to discuss those considerations with us.”

Sale flew to California and had his surgery Monday. The go-ahead to do so would not have been given unless the Red Sox were fully confident that the procedure was not taking anything away from the thousands suffering from the coronavirus in the United States.

“We know this is not life and death and that there are people who are suffering in situations that are life and death,” Bloom said. “That’s why it’s important to us to make sure that we weren’t putting any burden on the health system that would be a negative for people who are battling the coronavirus or any other ailment. It certainly is something we all know is necessary for his livelihood but we’re aware it’s apples and oranges when you talk about this versus something that is life-threatening.”

In Los Angeles County, where Sale had his procedure, the Department of Public Health issued guidelines on elective surgeries last week, providing a gray area in which recommendations -- not laws -- were made. Some states and counties have fully banned elective surgeries on a temporary basis, with others instead deciding to issue recommendations and letting doctors make their own decisions.

In a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. ElAttrache said he believed the surgeries were essential, and not elective, due to their impact on players’ careers.

“I know that I’m going to get criticized for taking care of these kinds of guys, but it’s essential to their livelihoods,” Dr. ElAttrache told reporter Hank Schulman. “If you have somebody’s career at stake and they lose two seasons instead of one, I would say that is not a nonessential or unimportant elective procedure."

The debate over the ethicality of Sale’s surgery was something the Red Sox considered since announcing he needed the procedure last Thursday. As Bloom and his staff worked to guarantee that any action would not take away from the fight against the coronavirus, the procedure was delayed a bit and took place a few days after it would have had the pandemic not been a factor.

“I think under normal circumstances, we might have been able to have it happen a little bit sooner,” Bloom said. “Obviously, we’re still talking about a relatively short timetable. There’s usually a lag of a few days at a minimum to get something like this done, even in normal times. It was a little longer in this case just because of all the considerations that I discussed.”

As the Red Sox worked through the obstacles at hand, team officials refused to comment publicly on a timetable for surgery. As those questions raised questions and ignited a debate about the ethical course of action, the team chose to go through its own process of due diligence to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties.

“These are not normal times,” Bloom said. "As a society, we are facing some difficult challenges. We knew that to schedule this or any surgery right now would not be routine and that there might be scheduling or logistical difficulties. Neither we nor Chris wanted to work through any of those potential hurdles in public.

“We understand that choice is not ideal for our fans or those following us,” he continued. “We did it only to avoid unnecessary daily speculation regarding the logistics.”

Boston Red Sox coronavirus: Fewer than 10 players remain in Fort Myers; Fenway South will reopen initially only to rehabbing players

Christopher Smith

Almost all Red Sox major league and minor league players have left Fort Myers to return to their offseason residences with no spring training restart date in sight because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“We do have some players who live locally or fairly locally,” Red Sox GM Brian O’Halloran said. "And I believe there are a small handful that are still in Fort Myers. I think we’re talking about single digits at this point. Fewer than 10.”

The Red Sox announced March 24 that they were shutting down the Fenway South complex for two weeks after an unnamed minor leaguer tested positive for COVID-19. April 6 marks two weeks.

“We’re just going to reevaluate at that point and see where we are and consider if we can open the facilities," O’Halloran said. "At that point it would be for rehabbers only.”

The player who tested positive is doing well and no other Red Sox major or minor league players have tested positive, the team said.

Before the Red Sox shut down the Fenway South complex, several major leaguers remained in camp for unofficial workouts. Fifteen players, for example, worked out at the complex March 17. But most have now returned home.

Red Sox coaches initially asked their starting pitchers to simulate two innings during unofficial bullpen sessions.

“Given the uncertainty of everything right now, we have ramped them (starting pitchers) back considerably,” chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. “We just want to keep them in a place where they will be able to ramp up as safely as possible while also making sure we’re not overtaxing them right now. What that means for everybody is a little different just based on their comfort level. We’ve certainly ramped them down considerably."

The Red Sox players are getting creative as they try to stay sharp for a baseball season in doubt.

“It’s definitely not easy,” Bloom said. “Guys are doing things different ways. Obviously different guys have different setups on their own. It’s nice to have go through this in a time when we have a lot of different ways to communicate. When guys have the ability to send video to staff. But certainly it adds a lot of challenges.”

Verdugo, McHugh ‘coming along well’

Alex Verdugo (stress fracture in back) began taking swings before MLB suspended its season. Collin McHugh (offseason non-surgical procedure for flexor strain) has yet to begin throwing.

“Our staff is doing a great job staying in contact with them, making sure we’re giving them as much guidances as we possibly can but doing so safely,” Bloom said. “They both are coming along well. Collin is still not in the throwing stage yet but is progressing well and moving towards that milestone. Alex is doing great. He’s coming along well.”

* RedSox.com

Sale has TJ surgery, could return in June '21

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- Eleven days after the Red Sox revealed that Chris Sale needed Tommy John surgery, the left- hander underwent the procedure in Los Angeles on Monday, and the club announced it was a success.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

The Red Sox and Sale were both mindful of the coronavirus pandemic while setting up the logistics of the surgery.

“Needless to say, these are not normal times,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. “As a society, we are facing some difficult challenges. We knew that to schedule this or any surgery right now would not be routine, that there might be scheduling or logistical difficulties.

“As I said earlier this month, it was important to all of us to do this in a way that would not place any undo burden on anyone suffering because of the coronavirus. I spoke to Dr. ElAttrache personally to make sure that was the case here, and he was just as mindful of the many considerations that go along with surgery at a time like this. We are obviously appreciative that he was able to do the procedure but also that he took the time to discuss those considerations with us.”

Sale -- who turned 31 on Monday -- will miss the entire 2020 season, and a best-case scenario would have him return around June of ’21.

“We don’t know exactly,” Bloom said. “Typically, give or take, around that 14-month range for a typical Tommy John. Some guys come back quicker. Some guys take a little longer, obviously depending on how the rehab proceeds and if there are any bumps in the road that they encounter. Typically that 14-month range or so is where it lands.”

“Chris will return to Florida soon to begin his rehab for the long process, but we know how driven he is to do it right. We’re eager to see him on the Fenway mound again when it’s time.”

It is unclear when the season will start. But when it does, Eduardo Rodriguez figures to be the ace of a Boston rotation that will also include Nathan Eovaldi, Martín Pérez and Ryan Weber.

Right-hander Collin McHugh could be in the mix as well, but his time-table is uncertain as he recovers from a flexor strain from last season.

The Red Sox are also contemplating using an opener for the final spot in the rotation.

“Of course we want to do everything we can to compete this season, and we still have that outlook,” Bloom said. “But we need to make sure that we’re viewing the big picture as well. What that’s going to mean as we go forward, it’s hard to say anything specific, but needless to say, losing Chris for 2020 is not going to make our task any easier.

“It is going to create some opportunities for some guys to step up and you never know what’s going to happen with that, especially with the added uncertainty that surrounds this season generally, but it’s not going to make this any easier.”

In three seasons with the Red Sox, Sale is 35-23 with a 3.08 ERA in 84 starts. He has covered 519 2/3 innings in that time, notching 763 strikeouts.

Sale is signed with the Red Sox through the 2024 season.

Red Sox's Top 5 first basemen: Browne's take

Ian Browne

No one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on their career while playing for that club. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only … if you don’t agree with the order, participate in the Twitter poll to vote for your favorite at this position.

Here is Ian Browne’s ranking of the top five first basemen in Red Sox history. Next week: second basemen.

1) Jimmie Foxx, 1936-42 Key fact: 50 homers in 1938 stood as a club record until David Ortiz (54) surpassed it in 2006

The right-handed-hitting masher known as “Double-X” played 38 percent of the games in his career for the Red Sox, but his production over that time was more than enough to beat out worthy contenders Mo Vaughn and Kevin Youkilis as the best first baseman in team history. The Red Sox got Foxx in what amounted to be a steal from the Philadelphia Athletics, sending two players -- George Savino and Gordon Rhodes -- and $150,000 from owner Tom Yawkey’s bank account.

Yawkey and the Red Sox got their money’s worth and more from Foxx, who was a savage in the middle of Boston’s lineup. In 887 games for Boston, Foxx had a line of .320/.429/.605 while bashing 222 homers to go along with 788 RBIs. His 1938 season remains one of the best in club history. Aside from the 50 homers, Foxx also had 175 RBIs, which still stands as a team record. Only Jim Rice had more total bases in a season for the Sox (406 in ’78) than Foxx’s 398 in ’38. Foxx’s 92 extra-base hits that season represents another team record that still stands. David Ortiz had 91 in 2004.

Imagine how fun it was for Red Sox fans during those three seasons (1939-41) that Foxx and a youngster named Ted Williams were in the same lineup. Foxx had an OPS+ of 188 his first year playing with Williams, tops in the Majors. He finished second to Joe DiMaggio in the American League MVP Award race that season.

2) Mo Vaughn, 1991-98 Key fact: Was MVP in the American League in 1995

The “Hit Dog” was a fearsome presence in the middle of the Boston batting order throughout the mid- to late 1990s, and the only thing he missed out on was getting the chance to play deep into October. Vaughn got to the playoffs three times but never made it past the Division Series. But that doesn’t take away from his impressive production.

Some people say that Vaughn was Big Papi before Big Papi. For a six-year stretch (1993-98), that was true, as the lefty slugger slashed .315/.405/.569 while averaging 36 homers and 110 RBIs. Wildly popular during his time with the Red Sox, Vaughn left as a free agent after the ’98 season and his career spiraled downward after that. Because of Vaughn's ability to pepper the Green Monster, it would have been interesting to see if he would have had a better ending if he remained in Boston.

“He was a home run waiting to happen,” said Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy. “Just his stance alone, when you look at it, it looked like a power stance. It looked like every time he swung the bat, he had a chance to drive the ball out of the ballpark. He also became a pretty good first baseman. He made himself a pretty good first baseman.”

3) Kevin Youkilis, 2004-12 Key fact: Had a .392 OBP over a six-year span (2006-11)

The ultimate grinder and on-base machine was a fan favorite and a two-time World Series champion in his time with the Red Sox. Youkilis came up through the Minors as a third baseman, but turned into a Gold Glover when the Red Sox moved him across the diamond following the acquisition of Mike Lowell. Youkilis hit for average and power and loved to spray the ball into the gaps.

He was also a big-game player. In Boston’s 2007 title run, Youkilis was a force, hitting .388 with four homers, 10 RBIs and a 1.230 OPS in 14 postseason games.

After a conflict with manager Bobby Valentine, Youkilis was traded to the White Sox in June 2012. He also had a forgettable 28-game stint with the rival Yankees in ’13 before injuries forced him into retirement. Those short periods with other teams are a blip on the radar for a man who will always feel part of the Red Sox family.

4) George Scott, 1966-71, ’77-79 Key fact: Won three of his eight career Gold Glove Awards with the Red Sox

Long before David Wells came along, baseball had a player that everyone referred to as the “Boomer.” Scott embraced the name as much as he loved calling his home runs “taters.” Scott, who died in 2013, was always popular with Red Sox fans because he was a key member of the “Impossible Dream” squad of 1967. It was Scott who broke a 2-2 tie with a tater on the final Saturday of the regular season to lead the Red Sox to a crucial win over the Twins. They clinched the pennant the next day.

Scott had two stints with the Sox and was a key contributor both times. Upon his return, the Boomer belted 33 homers in 1977 and was part of a 99-win team in ’78 that lost the division in a one-game playoff to the Yankees. The right-handed hitter ripped 154 homers in 1,192 games for Boston, but it is his defense that his former teammates remember most.

“He was the best defensive first baseman I ever played with,” said Remy. “I can’t say he’s the best I’ve seen, but he was the best I’ve played with. For me, it was a comfort level making double plays. When I made a bad throw, I knew there was a damn good chance he was going to pick it at the other end.”

5) Adrián González, 2011-12 Key fact: Led MLB with 213 hits in 2011

In December 2010, Theo Epstein finally acquired González, a man he had first coveted when the first baseman was bashing the baseball as a high school player in Miami. The Red Sox got González in the prime of his career. With a left-handed swing built for Fenway, González was expected to become a hitting legend for Boston -- especially after he signed a seven-year extension just months after the trade.

Though González would stunningly play just 282 games for the Red Sox before being traded to the Dodgers in August 2012, he did enough damage in Boston (.895 OPS) to round out our top five at first base. González was a stud in ’11, putting up a line of .338/.410/.548 with 108 runs, 45 doubles, 27 homers and 117 RBIs. He was a Silver Slugger Award winner and a Gold Glove Award winner that season. But the ’11 Red Sox collapsed down the stretch, becoming the first team in MLB history to miss the postseason after holding a nine-game lead in September.

González’s mood became dark when the Red Sox had a mess of a season under Valentine in ’12, and the club moved him along with Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto in an unlikely waiver trade on Aug. 25.

Honorable mentions The legendary Carl Yastrzemski started 742 games at first for the Sox and had an .813 OPS while playing the position. But the panel has decided that a player can only be nominated at one position in this series, and -- spoiler alert -- Yaz will appear during the segment on left fielders. … Mike Napoli and Kevin Millar were both key players for the Sox in three-year stints. Napoli had two game-altering homers in the 2013 ALCS. Millar’s walk set up the historic steal by Dave Roberts in Game 4 of the ’04 ALCS. … Jake Stahl was an important player for the Sox in the dead-ball era and was part of championship-winning clubs in 1903 and ’12.

Roberts on The Steal, and how Mo helped it happen

Mike Lupica

Dave Roberts, who manages the Dodgers now, was talking on Monday afternoon about what is still the most famous stolen base in baseball history, Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, Red Sox against the Yankees, bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox that close to being swept.

Mariano Rivera walked Kevin Millar, and Roberts ran for him and stole second base and scored the tying run on Bill Mueller’s single. By the time Oct. 17 had become Oct. 18 and the game was in extra innings, David Ortiz hit a walk-off home run at old Fenway, and that was the beginning of the greatest postseason comeback of them all.

“I understand why people always talk about Game 4,” Roberts said. “I get that. But nobody ever talks about Game 5.”

More about Game 5 later.

First, Game 4.

Roberts hadn’t played in 10 days. He said he spent the first few innings of Game 4 in the dugout, then went back to the Red Sox clubhouse from the fifth inning to the seventh, and watched video of Yankees relief pitchers who might be in the game if he went in to pinch-run, which he knew he would do in the late innings if the Red Sox needed a run. Roberts did some stretching, too. He ran back and forth from the clubhouse to the dugout.

In the eighth inning, with the Red Sox down a run, Roberts was back to the dugout.

“Waiting for an opportunity,” he said.

He says that when Rivera fell behind in the count against Millar, he put his helmet on. Millar finally walked. Roberts looked over at his manager, Terry Francona.

“Tito just winked,” Roberts said. “That’s all he had to say.”

Roberts said: “Even with Mo on the mound, and as bleak as things looked, we felt as if we were still in the game.”

Then Rivera, who along with everyone in the world knew why Dave Roberts was in there, started throwing over to first.

“Three times he threw over,” Roberts said. “But the great thing about that is that I felt as if he was getting me into the game. The first time he threw over, he calmed my nerves a little. The second time, I felt like I was getting my legs back. By the time he threw over the third time, I felt as if I’d played the previous eight innings.”

“I’m sure Mo would have never thought about it this way, but the more he threw over, the more he was helping me. And I knew he was going to try to hold the ball and hold the ball and hold the ball between throws. He’d done the same thing in a game at Yankee Stadium in September. So I was ready for that, too. I knew he wanted to delay, delay, delay what we all knew was coming.”

Finally he took off with Mueller at the plate. Roberts said on Monday that somebody in the Red Sox clubhouse told him later that it was the fastest Jorge Posada, the Yankees' catcher, had gotten the ball to second base all season.

“Pop time of 1.7,” Roberts said, meaning the time elapsed from the ball hitting Posada’s glove until reaching shortstop Derek Jeter’s glove.

The play at second base was close. Roberts said he was surprised at how close. But he knew he had beaten Jeter’s tag.

“[Umpire] Joe West was in great position,” Roberts said. “I praised him afterward for being in great position. Even today, umpires come up to me and thank me for acknowledging that.”

I asked him if Jeter said anything to him. Roberts laughed.

“He said, ‘How the ---- did you just do that?’” Roberts said. “Years later he told me that he wanted Mo to throw over there one more time. And guess what? If he had? He might have picked me off.”

Mueller singled up the middle. Roberts said he was going on contact, and if Rivera had gloved the ball -- which he nearly did -- Roberts would have been caught between second and third. But Rivera didn’t glove the ball. Roberts scored. Game tied. Ortiz won it. The Red Sox had lived to fight another day.

Then came Game 5.

Red Sox were behind again, in the bottom of the eighth, by two runs. Ortiz hit a home run off Tom “Flash” Gordon to bring them to within one. Millar was next up for the Red Sox. Gordon got ahead of him, 0-2. And then threw him four straight balls. In such a huge moment for his team, Millar had walked again. Here came Dave Roberts. Again. Pinch-running again. His team down a run again, just not in the bottom of the ninth this time.

“Flash was slow to the plate,” Roberts said. “But now I could see him trying to be quick, and out of his rhythm. Then he got behind Trot Nixon, 3-1. And even though it was 3-1, I decided to go.”

Roberts was going, all the way, on that 3-1 pitch, and Nixon hit one hard up the middle. Ball got through. Roberts made it to third. If he hadn’t been running, he would have stopped at second. And he would not have scored the tying run in Game 5.

“I go first to third, and Tek [Jason Varitek] hits a sacrifice fly and we’re tied,” Roberts said.

In the 14th inning, Ortiz knocked in Johnny Damon. The Sox were going back to New York. You know what happened there. The Red Sox changed the course of their own postseason history. They changed the course of baseball history. Doesn’t happen without a couple of walks to Kevin Millar in one magical 24- hour stretch for the Boston Red Sox. And the two biggest baserunning plays of them all.

* ESPN.com

The inside story of the first MLB player traded during the coronavirus pandemic

Joon Lee

Jhonny Pereda thought the call was a prank.

With everything happening in the world, with Major League Baseball shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, with his minor league income suddenly up in the air, Pereda couldn't believe he'd just been traded from the Chicago Cubs. As he sat in his Mesa, Arizona, hotel room holding his infant daughter, Carlotta, Pereda received a second call from Boston Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero, confirming the news he'd just gotten from the Cubs

That's when his new reality set in.

"I was just hoping and looking forward to the beginning of the season and to start making money," Pereda, a 23-year-old from Aragua, Venezuela, told ESPN through a translator. "I have to give support to my family. When I found out that the season was over, my first thought was, 'What am I going to do?'"

Boston acquired Pereda from the Cubs last Monday, completing a trade finalized in January that sent righty Travis Lakins to Chicago -- making Pereda the first player traded during the worldwide pandemic. When MLB decided last week to freeze rosters due to the suspension of the season, Pereda was joined by Rays minor league infielder Esteban Quiroz as the only players traded.

The terms of the Lakins trade required a player to be named later to be agreed upon by March 24. Last season, Pereda won the Gold Glove at the catcher position for all of minor league baseball, throwing out 50% of runners. Left unprotected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft, Perada re-signed with the organization on a minor league deal this offseason before being dealt to Boston.

"We had to complete the trade by the 24th," said Red Sox general manager Brian O'Halloran. "Nobody was sure how things were going to go with the negotiations when the potential transaction freeze might take place. We were sort of resigned to the fact that it was unusual, but we were going to acquire a player that we couldn't see in person and that we couldn't have report to Fort Myers [Florida] and we just had to treat him as best as we possibly could."

His world now flipped upside down, Pereda's mind raced. What should he do next? He wondered if he needed to fly to Fort Myers to join the other minor leaguers in the Red Sox organization. Like many players from Latin America, Pereda thought too about his family back home, who depend on his baseball salary.

"Coming from a third-world country where everything is very hard and tough, with the entire situation, I just wish that MLB and other people can help the minor leaguers [more] than they are doing right now because we need that money to live and provide for our families," Pereda said. "I think I can speak for all the Latin-American players, coming from there to the States, when we arrive to this country, it is because we are going to work and we are trying to make money to provide for our families.

"Of course being in the big leagues, you have all of the attention of the fans and people sometimes don't realize how hard the struggle we have to go through. Only the players know how hard it is to get there because being in the business, you have to go to the minors first."

On March 19, MLB announced it would offer minor leaguers a "uniform compensation" package that would cover the period between mid-March and the start of the minor league season, but no further announcement has been made about compensation with the suspension of play now cutting into regular- season games.

Pereda doesn't know what he'll do if there isn't more clarity soon. Pereda supplements his baseball salary by herding cattle during the offseason after investing in cows with his signing bonus.

On his phone call with Romero, Pereda was told the Red Sox would continue to pay for his hotel in Mesa, located near the Cubs' spring training facility, telling him to stay put for the time being. When Pereda asked about his salary, he was assured the organization would support its minor leaguers.

"I'm still not clear about quantity or how much it's going to be, if it's going to be meal money or if we're going to receive something weekly, so I'm just hoping this situation gets solved. I'm waiting to hear more. A lot of other guys are, too."

O'Halloran said the Red Sox have not made a decision regarding minor league salaries.

"We're glad to see something was resolved whenever that was, a week or so ago, for the minor league players on the allowances standardized across the game," O'Halloran said. "We were pleased with that and everything going forward is going to be dependent on what we hear from the league and what we hear from other clubs, but our general stance is that we want to make sure all of our players are in good health and have what they need, so we're looking forward to resolving that as I'm sure everybody is across the league as we go forward."

Pereda prepared himself to dip into his savings account during this time to afford living in the United States. Back home, an inexpensive meal costs around $4 versus $15 here, according to Numbeo. Venezuela currently faces massive nationwide food shortages with the country's financial collapse over the past decade that economists say is worse than America's Great Depression.

Pereda thought about his wife, Griscarly Arias, and his daughter, both of whom came with him to spend the baseball season in America for the first time, navigating a new country, culture and lifestyle without speaking fluent English.

"The whole situation has me very concerned," Pereda said. "I don't want to miss a whole year without playing baseball and without getting my salary and the support to my family. I'm just hoping and praying every day for this situation to settle as soon as possible and we can start playing."

This is certainly not how he imagined bringing his family to the United States.

"It was completely shocking because it was [my wife's] first time coming to the U.S. just to see how everything was happening," Pereda said. "She was a little nervous about the situation, not being in her hometown and just trying to adapt to this system and culture and then this happens. We just have been working together as a family, try to stay together and stay home and trying to deal with the whole situation. This is out of our hands, so we are trying to go with the flow."

Pereda dreams of playing for the Red Sox at Fenway Park, but he spent the initial days following the season's suspension going to the Cubs' facility and hitting and throwing with his now-former teammates.

"A lot of teammates and coaches were surprised and asking, 'Hey, what are you still doing here?'" Pereda said.

Pereda is anxious to meet his new teammates, whenever that might be. But before that meeting can happen, he'll need to weather the storm during this unprecedented work stoppage.

When the Cubs' facilities shut down, Pereda found himself running near the hotel, looking for ways to work out with the other Venezuelan prospects stuck there with him. For now, Pereda said he and the other players avoid the topic of their long-term finances. Instead, their focus remains fixed on their families and their future in baseball, while their present becomes increasingly fuzzy.

"Just the cost of life of being here is very expensive and not only not having money to sustain ourselves here, but not being able to provide to our families back home, it's really frustrating," Pereda said, adding he feels minor leaguers aren't being heard in the conversation about what's happening in baseball right now. "Not listening to anything from us about it, it really hurts us."

* WEEI.com

Chris Sale undergoes Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles

Rob Bradford

Chris Sale's road back officially started Monday.

The Red Sox announced that the pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles with Dr. Neal ElAttrache performing the surgery at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute. Recovery. The Boston Globe was first to report the procedure had been executed.

News that Sale would need Tommy John surgery was surfaced March 19, with the team uncertain at the time regarding a timeline for the operation due to the complications regarding elective surgeries during the coronavirus crisis. Dr. James Andrews, for one, has suspended elective procedures according to the Globe.

The recovery time for Tommy John surgeries is approximately 14-16 months. Some examples of players who have had the procedure during relatively the same time of year are Will Smith (March 30, 2017), Detroit's Michael Fulmer (March 27, 2019) and former Blue Jays hurler Bo Schultz (March 29, 2017).

Smith, who is just about the same age as the 31-year-old Sale, made his return to a major league mound May 2, 2018. The reliever pitched in 54 games that season, totaling a 2.55 ERA, and signed a three-year, $39 million contract with the Braves heading into 2020.

The Monday Baseball Column: How Red Sox pitchers are preparing for the unpredictable

Rob Bradford

If all had gone as planned, Dave Bush’s Saturday would have been occupied helping guide Martin Perez through his first start at Rogers Centre. Instead Bush spent the afternoon on a field near his Maine home giving baseball lessons to an entirely different demographic — the Red Sox pitching coach's three children, ages 12, 10 and eight.

Such is life for Bush. Best-laid plans and all of that.

“It’s challenging, man,” he told WEEI.com regarding the coronavirus-induced curveball sent the world of baseball and the world as a whole. “It’s a level of stuff I had not prepared for, nor did anyone else, players included. It’s tough on everyone involved in the game right now, and everyone outside the game. There are a lot of things we were not prepared for. We’re just trying to take advantage of this time and get something out of it so when we do get a chance to play again we can move forward as quickly as possible.”

Bush, like everyone else, is trying to figure out how to manage this out-of-nowhere about-face.

Along with living his new life of seclusion with his wife, daughter and two sons, the 40-year-old, first-year big-league coach has attempted to manage his job’s expectations.

But there is no formula for this. It’s a reality Bush and the rest of the Red Sox decision-makers have come to grips with.

The pitchers have to get ready. But for when? For what?

“We’ve definitely given them some guidance. We have heard some rough timelines from MLB publicly. I know it has been floated that there could possibly be an early June start and I don’t know if any of that will be true or not at this point, but we’re using that as a guideline right now to make sure that guys are ready if and when we do get to start up again,” Bush noted.

“Everyone’s circumstances are a little bit different right now. Some guys have access to throwing partners and space. Other people don’t. I have given general guidelines to the group but also working individually with the guys to make sure whatever the circumstance they can get enough work in to be ready.”

Bush, and everyone else in Major League Baseball, understand that any dates mentioned regarding a return are — to be kind — fluid. But Bush and his pitchers have to live with a “what if” mentality, just in case. So that’s exactly the approach they are taking.

“You definitely want to be over-prepared but also try not to overdue it because if the season starts late and goes longer into the fall there is always the risk of guys doing too much now and trying to make it through an extended season,” he said. “We are balancing it on both ends. They are dialing back a little bit now compared to where they were when they left spring training. Trying not to overdue right now, but also making sure they are at a point where they can ramp up and get prepared quickly if they get that chance.”

When we last saw the Red Sox pitchers they were eyeing the finish line after executing the typical spring training dance of easing into a baseball season.

By the time that last Grapefruit League game was played the Red Sox’ pitchers had totaled 181 innings, sixth-most in baseball. Their top two starters (with Chris Sale not in the picture), Eduardo Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi, were cruising, with Rodriguez coming off a March 11 gem against the Rays in which he didn’t allow a run over four innings while striking out 10.

The day before that Colten Brewer went 2 2/3 innings to seemingly cement his path to become part of the Sox’ opener strategy. And the night prior in North Port, Fla. Ryan Weber most likely locked up the No. 4 starter spot with four more scoreless innings against the Braves.

In multiple corners of the clubhouse, the momentum heading to what was supposed to be Opening Day was real. Now, in many ways, it’s figuring out what returning to Square One might look like.

“We have talked to them about monitoring their effort levels and the number of throws they’re making because they will have to rework all the formulas that go into the workload we planned for spring training,” Bush said. “We will have to adjust that and alter it a little bit. That requires feedback from the players.

“There is a lot of work a lot of guys did over the four or five weeks we were in Florida to get themselves ready for the season. Some guys had taken a big step forward. For those guys I encouraged them to maintain where they are right now to keep the progress that they made. Whatever their throwing program looks like it’s about maintaining a certain level of fitness so they can pick it back up when they need to without overdoing it right now.”

The preparation while away from team activities are one thing, deciphering a strategy once back is something else entirely. As former Red Sox pitcher Aaron Sele told WEEI.com last week when reflecting on the 2 1/2 weeks players had to get ready during a delayed 1995 season, “The biggest key MLB has to worry about is obviously the safety of its fans and its workers. But the players? I would suggest a longer version than probably what they’re going to have. Obviously, you don’t need all of spring training, but you need consistency of when it is going to start."

Bush and his colleagues have a guideline for a spring training reboot. But until a timeline is set in stone, the pitching coach weaves in and out of family commitments with calls, texts, emails and other methods of communication to plan such things as the best ways to integrate the new wave of analytics with his pitching staff.

There is plenty of time to plan. For what remains anyone's guess.

"I’ve heard three weeks floated out there," Bush said. "I have no idea if that is accurate or not. But that is significantly shorter than we would have had the first time around. If that is the case guys need to show up further along than they ordinarily would. That’s part of what I talk to guys about right now. If spring training is as short as three weeks then they need to show up basically at the level that would have been prior to Opening Day in the first spring training. It’s a tricky balance. When guys show up in early February we have a series of bullpens and then live BPs and then we work into game action. We’ll have to skip over some of that early stuff so they have to do some it on their own for whenever they show up. There is definitely a higher level of communication and monitoring with that kind of stuff because they will have to do more of the work on their own than they typically would have done in the wintertime.

"I think we had all settled into a good rhythm. We had gotten through the bulk of the build-up. The starters were going to be on five-inning outings coming up. So a lot of the prep work and build-up we had worked on all winter, we were through a lot of it. To that extent, we’ll have to take a step back and do that again on a smaller scale."

REMEMBERING WHAT A TWO-MONTH SEASON LOOKS LIKE

What this baseball season looks like is anyone's guess. But to suggest the best-case scenario is some sort of two-or-so-month sprint to the postseason is a very real possibility.

If that ends up being the case, there might actually be a rare example to draw from in this tidal wave of uncertainty. For that we can thank what happened in 1981.

In that season Major League Baseball decided there were ostensibly going be two seasons, one before the players' strike and one after.

"You’re just so happy. So psyched. All I know is that I didn’t feel ready," said former Red Sox Dennis Eckersley when recounting his range of emotions upon returning following what would be the loss of 38 percent of the season. "I recall feeling not all that great. Looking back it had the feeling that every game meant something because it gave everybody a fresh start. To be honest, I was just thinking about my arm. I wasn’t thinking about my team I was thinking about my arm and how I was going to do this. But I was ecstatic to playing again."

What happened was this: After the strike -- which lasted from June 12 until July 31 -- the owners voted to allow whichever teams were leading their respective divisions prior to the work stoppage to automatically clinch a postseason berth. Baseball would then return for a second season, kicking off with the All-Star Game on Aug. 9, with teams getting a clean slate when it came to making a run at winning the division.

The Red Sox, for instance, finished just 1 1/2 games out of a playoff berth thanks to a 29-23 record in the second half after heading into the strike in fourth-place.

So, what lessons can be learned from the kind of sprint of a season 1981 represented?

Jeff Katz, former mayor Cooperstown and author of the book, "Split Season: 1981: Fernandomania, the Bronx Zoo and the Strike that Saved Baseball," offers an educated take.

"The short second half of 1981 ended up with some good baseball, with many teams, good and bad, within striking distance of the second-half division crown," Katz recalled via email. "Though the split season setup took the air out of full-season pennant races, it allowed lowly teams like the Mets, Mariners and Blue Jays to print playoff tickets in September. (The Jays, full-year, were 36-65).

"In the absence of a first half to compare it to, a 2020 short-season could work, though it’ll always feel like tainted to everyone but the ultimate winners. The 1981 Dodgers don’t feel their World Series win is anything less for the strike-shortened year. There is the real risk, with a short schedule and two Wild Cards, to end up with sub .500 teams in the playoffs. If it was up to me, I would eliminate that second Wild Card this year. Extra playoffs with a truncated schedule would be a huge mistake and look bad."

Another piece of the puzzle that shouldn't be overlooked? As much as players do their darnedest to prepare on their own for the upcoming season, not knowing actual starting dates is an issue. It's a reality Eckersley came to know in a season he turned in relatively the same numbers before and after the strike.

"It just seemed like it took forever and it was hard to keep an edge," he said. "How do you keep an edge? You play catch? After a month it was like, ‘Shoot!’ The biggest thing is to keep your arm somewhat in shape. As a starting pitcher that’s difficult to do."

One of the biggest differences this time around will be the appetite to see the players play. In 1981, attendance dropped in 17 of the 24 cities and, as Katz points out, television ratings for the division series were so weak that NBC didn't advocate for the extra tier of playoffs to continue. The League Championship Series ratings were much lower than 1980, as were the three showcase World Series games even though it was New York against Los Angeles.

This time? It's not a gigantic leap of faith to suggest fans will be starved for the sight of baseball (and any sport, really).

"My guess is when this season resumes, if it does, the pent up desire for baseball that was taken away, not by labor strife but by, let’s call it, an “Act of God,” will not be accompanied by negative feelings," Katz points out.

THE LAST ACQUISITION

Another bizarre timeline the Red Sox recently encountered involved a player who might actually be making the major league roster.

Two weeks before Yairo Munoz ultimately signed his minor league deal with the Sox his name was surfaced in the team's front office. The Red Sox executives saw word pop up on social media that Munoz -- a talented utility player who had spent the better part of the last two seasons in the major leagues with the Cardinals -- left camp and headed to back to his native Dominican Republic without approval from St. Louis.

While Munoz did have a hamstring issue, he also was disgruntled when it came to his perceived role with the Cardinal. So Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero, who was already in the Dominican Republic, made a call to Munoz's agent Hector Fayentt.

The Red Sox were already familiar with Munoz, who had already played six different positions in the majors, having scouted the now-25-year-old as a skinny teenager who projected solely as a light-hitting second baseman. No offer was made back then, but one was going to be presented this time around.

Munoz is perceived as a good fit for what the Red Sox potentially need, with Tzu-Wei Lin, Marco Hernandez and Rule 5 draftee Jonathan Arauz all vying for a super-utility spot. Going off of Munoz's production with the Cardinals, he would seem to have a step up, a notion the Red Sox realized when starting to pursue the righty hitter.

The problem was that not only were other teams getting in on the action, but the Red Sox knew that there was going to be a moment Major League Baseball would be shutting down all transactions. As it turned out that moment ended up coming just two days after the Sox' agreed with Munoz on a minor-league deal.

Adding to the unconventional nature of the aquistion was because of MLB's shutdown there still has been no face-to-face meeting or physical. But based off prior scouting and conversations the Red Sox were comfortable in not only Munoz's on-field abilities but his makeup, which was part of the equation after he left Cards camp without a warning.

SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF JOE KELLY'S FASTBALL

In all the years Joe Kelly pitched for the Red Sox one of the more baffling elements of his game was why his 100 mph fastball didn't seem to act like a 100 mph fastball.

A big part of the explanation came from the fact that he really didn't have much of a spin rate on his four- seamers, ranking in the 22nd percentile last season.

Well, he thinks he finally found the solution.

Appearing on the Bradfo Sho podcast, Kelly explained that this past offseason the Dodgers finally identified that the pitcher had been throwing his fastball with one finger instead of two. This, of course, was limiting the spin on every pitch.

An adjustment was leading into spring training and judging by the Dodgers' measurements before baseball's shutdown they seem to be on to something.

Kelly explains ...

* NBC Sports Boston

There's more to Jarren Duran's potential for Red Sox than his speed

John Tomase

Jarren Duran's numbers suggest a Jacoby Ellsbury clone. But his rippling 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame calls to mind the wiry Christian Yelich.

One of the breakout performers of Red Sox camp before spring training came to a halt earlier this month, Duran has made a name for himself with high averages and higher stolen base totals since being selected in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, but physically he looks capable of developing power.

Which way he goes will go a long way towards determining how high his big-league ceiling rises.

"I'm OK with being the speed guy who gets on base for the bigger guys and lets them get their RBIs," Duran said during spring training. "I'm totally OK with that. I'll be the little guy that gets on base and steals bases. It doesn't bother me."

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In a breakout 2019, Duran hit over .400 for two months at High-A Salem before earning a promotion to Double-A Portland, where he came back to earth by batting .250 over 87 games. All told, he still hit .303 with five homers and 46 steals, establishing himself as one of the fastest players in the minors.

In his brief exposure to spring training, Duran hit .250 with a homer and triple, catching the eye of manager Ron Roenicke with his all-around athleticism, especially in the outfield, where the converted second baseman projects as a big league center fielder.

"Exciting player," Roenicke said. "Tools-wise, as good as it gets. And that type of player, he's thrilling to watch. Saw him run a little last year because he hit a couple of gappers for us. . . . The tools, he's just one of those special guys, if it all comes together, you've got a superstar."

That's getting ahead of the game, obviously, and Duran knows it. The 23-year-old hit. 387 at Salem before moving to Portland in June. He hit just .211 with a .543 OPS over his first month with the Sea Dogs before finding his sea legs. From July 21 through the end of the season, he hit .292 with a .740 OPS and 15 steals.

"I just had to put my head down and keep going," Duran said. "As soon as you think it can't be this easy, that's when the game will hit you. The game's going to get you. If you just keep your head down, keep working, you'll be fine.

"The competition was obviously better, but I just think I got in my own way," Duran continued. "Everybody is good, so you think, 'Do I belong here?' Everybody gets that little bit of self-doubt. I started figuring out toward the end, 'I can play here, I belong.' I think just getting out of my own way is my biggest enemy."

Duran's speed certainly played at Double-A. Over his final six weeks there, he hit .383 on balls in play. The adjustment was mental, particularly when it came to recognizing pitch sequencing.

"My speed will always be there," he said, "but pitchers being more in tune with their pitches, not being afraid to throw pitches in certain counts, was an adjustment I needed to make — knowing that, OK, he's not afraid to throw a changeup in a 3-1 count."

So what might the future hold? Duran is built to add power to his game. Ellsbury, after all, rose to the majors on his wheels and even stole 70 bases in 2009 before blasting 32 homers and leading the AL in total bases in 2011.

"I haven't really shown it yet," Duran says of his power, before shutting down any Ellsbury comparisons.

"Guys that are playing in the Show, I can't compare myself to them," he said. "They're in the big leagues, I'm not. I try to do my own thing, use my speed as much as I can."

* The Athletic

Changed rules for MLB draft will have big impact on Red Sox this spring

Chad Jennings

At this time five years ago, the Red Sox were just starting to consider the sophomore center fielder out of Arkansas. His freshman season had been nothing special, and he hadn’t played the previous summer, so he wasn’t really on their radar until amateur scouts went back into the field in the spring of 2015 to make their final evaluations for the fast-approaching draft. That’s when glowing reports began to flood the Red Sox system.

Two hits and two stolen bases against No. 1 LSU on March 19. Two more hits with another home run against Memphis on March 24. Two home runs against Mississippi Valley on April 8 and two more home runs against Kentucky on April 10. Another home run with three stolen bases against Stephen F. Austin on April 15. A three-hit game against Mississippi State on April 24.

In a matter of months, the Red Sox had been so impressed – and so thoroughly convinced – that they drafted Andrew Benintendi seventh overall. Just three years later, he helped them win a championship.

“It wasn’t a guy that was really too much on our radar until mid-March of that year,” vice president of scouting Mike Rikard said. “(Scouts) started going in and saying, wow… He came out blazing and guys were going out, putting him in the first round right about this time.”

Benintendi has been the third-most valuable player in that 2015 draft class, as measured by WAR. He’s an 11th-hour success story for the Red Sox scouting department, and the type of selection that simply cannot happen this summer.

Major League Baseball’s recent agreement with the players association regarding the 2020 season was most immediately notable for its payroll implications – pro-rated salaries and service time considerations – but the decision to delay, shorten, and limit spending on the draft should have farther-reaching implications for professional, college and high school players.

“You sit here, and say, gosh, this kind of stinks,” Rikard said. “But there’s so much more going on (in the world). We’ll just plow right through this thing, whatever they allow us to do. I definitely think the right thing is to go through with the draft.”

That wasn’t a sure thing. There was talk of simply canceling the 2020 draft, but the league was instead given permission to push the draft back from June to July, and instead of 40 rounds, it might be as short as five. Signing bonuses are also severely limited. And those decisions came as much of amateur baseball has been put on hold because of the coronavirus outbreak. Scouts are largely stuck at home, unable to finalize their evaluations or search for the next Benintendi.

“We’ve never been in a position where we can slow things down in the spring, and now we are,” Red Sox director of amateur scouting Paul Toboni said.

Toboni and Rikard said the Red Sox have stayed in regular contact with their amateur scouting department, including regular conference calls of more than 30 scouts and front office members. They’ve been reevaluating their process and setting priorities for whenever they’re able to get back on the field and get their last looks.

“What questions do we need answered on these prospects from now until the draft?” Toboni said. “How do we go about answering them? That way when we do get back up and running, we have a clear blueprint and can attack those questions as efficiently and comprehensively as possible.”

A shortened draft, though, could mean a new strategy throughout baseball. Are teams going to take a shot on high school players, especially high school pitchers, whose stock can rise and fall dramatically based on their senior seasons? Are spending limits going to make high school players and college underclassmen less interested in signing? Is this going to be the draft to play it safe before what could be an especially deep draft in 2021?

For obvious reasons, the Red Sox would not go into detail about their own adjusted strategy, but Rikard did offer this general analysis:

“I think in the end, teams are still going to line up their board in terms of talent regardless of whether it’s five rounds or 40 rounds. You’re still going to take the best player. (But) I could see teams maybe going in a little bit of a different route just because you don’t have as many picks. There could be some different strategies that end up being involved. We’ll see. It’s such a different dynamic, it’s going to be a little bit of learn on the go.”

The Red Sox pick 17th this year, their fourth-highest selection since 2003. It’s a good opportunity to land a relatively high-end talent, but the team has been unable to do any follow-up evaluations this spring. They’ll have last season’s scouting reports, and evaluations from the summer and fall, but there likely won’t be much time for further analysis heading into this draft.

Amateur crosschecker Stephen Hargett, for example, said he hasn’t seen much of anything since Division I games were canceled in mid-March. He’s been home with his wife and three kids, and when his wife goes back to work, he’ll “play zone 3-1 defense” with the kids.

“Workwise, yeah, watching some video when free,” Hargett wrote in an email. “Reading the last few reports that were rolling in and just making sure our guys, along with their families, were all safe and sound! For the most part we are all in same boat – dads or younger families, nice to lean on some friends for some support! Definitely, looking forward to getting back to some sort of normalcy once everything turns the corner. I have full trust in our group. We have been together a long time, whenever we are able to go back out on the road, we will be ready.”

It’s worth noting the Red Sox have been successful with later-round selections in recent years. Hargett was the lead scout on Thad Ward, one of the team’s top pitching prospects, who was a fifth-round pick in 2019, one round before the Red Sox took their top outfield prospect, Jarren Duran. Travis Lakins, Ben Taylor and Logan Allen – all major league pitchers – were sixth-, seventh- and eighth-round picks in 2015. That same year, Bobby Poyner was drafted in the 14th round, and Kyle Hart, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, was a 19th-round pick as a fifth-year senior in 2016.

Even Mookie Betts, the most successful Red Sox draft pick of the past decade-plus, wasn’t picked until the fifth round in 2011. Would a high school kid like Betts even be picked in a five-round draft this year? And if he were picked, would spending limits keep such a player from turning pro?

All are reasonable questions, especially since spending limits should make it harder for teams to entice later-round selections with large bonuses, and that’s especially true for undrafted players who might otherwise have gone in the first 10 rounds. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, undrafted players will be allowed no more than $20,000 before counting against a team’s draft pool. For comparison, even sixth- and seventh-round picks were allowed more than $200,000 last year.

College players were granted an extra year of eligibility, so they could go back to school if they’re not drafted, but college seniors might have to decide between a $20,000 bonus or entering next year’s overcrowded draft when they’re another year older.

“How many of them are going to be really interested in signing or going back into what’s going to be probably a really deep draft?” Rikard said. “That’s going to be really interesting, too, to see what these kids decide to do.”

It’s an unusual situation within an unusual time. The Red Sox amateur scouting department is full of veterans who have been with the team a long time, and they say that familiarity has helped them deal with the uncertainty.

“I think this has provided great perspective for all of us,” Toboni said. “How trivial our jobs are relative to what is going on in the world. Oh, we’re stressing over the quality of a shortstop’s arm from the 6 hole? Well your neighbor, a nurse, is just finishing up a 100-hour work week at MGH. I think we need that reminder occasionally, because we can all get caught thinking our roles in this industry are a little bit more important than the reality.”

* Associated Press

Red Sox LHP Sale has Tommy John Surgery

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox starter Chris Sale had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow on Monday, his 31st birthday, waiting 11 days after doctors said he needed the operation because of difficulty in scheduling during the coronavirus pandemic.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the team worked with doctors to make sure the procedure didn't burden an already-stressed healthcare system.

"Under normal circumstances we might have been able to have it happen a little bit sooner," Bloom said on a conference call with reporters. “We know that this is not life and death. ... It’s apples and oranges with this versus when you talk about something that’s life-threatening."

Dr. Neal ElAttrache replaced Sale's ulnar collateral ligament at the Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles; the Red Sox said the surgery was a success. Sale is expected to miss 14-15 months, which would bring him back in the middle of the 2021 season.

“We look forward to his return sometime next year,” Bloom said.

Also Monday, Red Sox general manager Brian O'Halloran said that the team will wait until next week to consider whether to reopen its facility in Fort Myers, Florida, where a minor leaguer tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24.

“The reports that we are getting is that he is fine,” O'Halloran said. “There have been no other positive tests.”

Sale missed the start of spring training with an illness the team described as a flu that morphed into pneumonia. The Red Sox then said he had a flexor strain near the elbow, but the team hoped he would avoid ligament replacement surgery.

A seven-time All-Star, Sale is 109-73 in 10 major league seasons and entering the second season of a $160 million, six-year contract. After helping the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series, he went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 25 starts last year — his fewest wins and starts, highest ERA, and the first time he failed to finish among the top six in Cy Young Award voting in any full season as a starter.

“Tommy John's been a factor in my life for 20 years now," Sale said this month. “It's on the table, but it's always been on the table. So, that's not something I'm going to worry myself with. I can't go out there with that in the back of my mind. I have to have the confidence that what we're doing is going to work.”