FORT MYERS, Fla. — Right on the heels of the coldest weekend in decades, the Red Sox are gathering in warm, sunny Southwest Florida to warm our hearts. Pitchers and catchers don’t officially report until Thursday, and there won’t be an official workout until Friday, but most players have already arrived in camp looking to get a head start on the competition.

There is always an abundance of stories surrounding the start of a Red Sox season, and 2016 is no different. Here is my list of the top storylines to watch between now and April 4, when the Sox open their season in Cleveland:

• The David Ortiz Farewell Tour: There will be tributes galore as Big Papi makes his final trip around the majors. The question is, how many trips around the bases will he make along the way? The Sox need Ortiz to be at his best to power the middle of the lineup this season. He was last year, and there’s no reason to assume we won’t see more of the same this summer. Ortiz is headed to the Hall of Fame; if he and the Sox are headed to the playoffs this fall they will have to be driven by their DH.

• The Hanley Ramirez First-Base Experiment: A year ago, Ramirez failed spectacularly in his attempt to learn a new position. Now he’s at it again. Both Ramirez and the Red Sox feel the lifetime shortstop will make a smoother transition to a new place in the infield. He never felt comfortable as a left fielder; if the Sox are going anywhere he’d better make the rest of the infield comfortable throwing to him at first base.

• Kung Fu Panda 2: Pablo Sandoval is back for his second year as a member of the Red Sox. Year One didn’t go too well. His batting average was .043 below his career average, his on-base percentage was .047 below his career average, and his slugging percentage was .086 below his career average. In other words, he was below average. He has reportedly lost weight this offseason, but Sandoval must now deal with a fan base that is skeptical about his place in the lineup. The Panda was a beloved character in San Francisco; in Boston he just needs to be average to improve.

• The Outfield: Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo had Red Sox fans thinking back to the days of Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, and Dwight Evans. They gave us plenty to cheer about in the final two months of 2015 and need to pick up where they left off.

• The New Ace: The Red Sox paid a king’s ransom to bring David Price to town. He is expected to be the ace the Sox have lacked since Jon Lester left town in the middle of 2014. If Price lives up to his billing, it’s almost a lock to win every fifth day. Last year Price went 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 11 starts with Toronto during a pennant race; if he pitches like that and leads the Sox back to the playoffs he’ll be worth that staggering salary.

• The Other Guys: A year ago, the Sox claimed they didn’t need an ace at the top of the rotation. They did. Now they have one in Price, and the pressure is off the rest of the staff. Rick Porcello was brutal for five months last summer. Clay Buchholz made his annual trip to the DL. Eduardo Rodriguez showed potential when he wasn’t tipping his pitches. Joe Kelly seemed destined for the bullpen before he rattled off wins in eight straight starts in the final weeks of the season. The Sox staff looked like a bunch of number twos and threes last season. With Price as the number-one arm, that’s all they’ll need to be in 2016.

• The Setup Guys: Craig Kimbral is one of the best closers in the game. The Sox gave up four good prospects to get him. They also made the rare move of trading a starter (Wade Miley) to acquire a late-inning pitcher (Carson Smith) who doesn’t close games. Koji Uehara needs to be OK with seventh- and eighth-inning situations now that he’s not a closer. The Sox added a pitcher who’s expected to be a sure thing at the back end of the bullpen; other pitchers will need to be just as consistent in the innings leading up to the ninth.

• The New Boss: Dave Dombrowski has more authority than any Sox general manager in recent memory. In fact, he’s the president – running baseball operations above GM Mike Hazen. Dombrowski began the rebuilding as soon as 2015 ended; he’ll have to remain just as aggressive if he’s going to bring a championship to Boston this fall.

You want stories? At Fenway South, the boys of summer are heading back to work.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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