MESA, Ariz. — The Chicago White Sox have agreed to a five-year contract with Yoan Moncada, locking up another one of their promising young hitters.
A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations said there also is a club option. The person spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the move had not been finalized.
The White Sox acquired the 24-year-old Moncada in the December 2016 trade that sent Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox. Long regarded as one of baseball’s top prospects, Moncada broke out last season when he set career highs with a .315 batting average, 25 homers and 79 RBI.
Moncada would have been eligible for salary arbitration after this season and for free agency after the 2023 season.
YANKEES: Gerrit Cole gave up homers on consecutive pitches to Detroit’s Travis Demeritte and Miguel Cabrera in the first inning.
Then Demeritte and Cabrera went deep against the New York Yankees’ ace on back-to-back pitches in the second.
“Probably pleased with most of the pitches, just got blistered on a handful of bad ones,” Cole said. “It’s not my favorite day of 2020 so far, but it is just spring training. You just take it for what it is, plain and simple, and we’ll learn from it and get better.”
Cole, who signed a $324 million, nine-year contract as a free agent, allowed six runs, six hits and one walk in two innings with three strikeouts. The 29-year-old right-hander threw 33 of 44 pitches for strikes.
• Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said lefty Jordan Montgomery is “very much solidifying himself” as the No. 4 starter behind Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ.
• Aaron Judge has not given up on being ready for the opener at Baltimore on March 26 but still does not know the cause of soreness in his right pectoral muscle and shoulder.
Judge said he has undergone seven to 10 tests and more are scheduled.
“Quite a few of the tests are coming back clean,” Judge said. “So, we’re trying to figure out what is going on.”
CUBS: The Cubs scratched right-hander Yu Darvish and second baseman Jason Kipnis because of illness.
In a series of tweets in Japanese, Darvish said he had a cough Wednesday and expressed reluctance about entering the clubhouse amid the coronavirus outbreak, but he then posted that he didn’t have a fever or the flu.
CARDINALS: Manager Mike Shildt will get married on Friday during a day off.
Shildt managed both St. Louis split-squad games on Thursday, with the wedding party attending the evening game in West Palm Beach against Washington.
He’ll trade the crack of bats for the clang of bells on Friday before returning to the ballpark on Saturday to manage again.
“I’m a pretty present guy. I know where I’m going tomorrow and I know where I’m going today,” Shildt said. “I show up and be present and enjoy the opportunities in both.”
Shildt’s bride-to-be, Michelle Segrave, has family in South Florida, one of the reasons the couple chose the date and location.
METS: Jerry Koosman’s No. 36 is being retired by the New York Mets, more than four decades after he threw his final pitch for the team.
Koosman, whose five-hitter beat Baltimore in Game 5 of the 1969 World Series for the Mets’ first title, will be honored before the June 13 game against Washington, the team said.
His will be the third player number retired by the Mets after Tom Seaver’s No. 41 in 1988 and Mike Piazza’s No. 31 in 2016. New York has retired the numbers of two managers: Casey Stengel’s No. 37 in 1965 and Gil Hodges’ No. 14 in 1973.
Now 77, Koosman was 140-137 with a 3.09 ERA in 346 starts and 30 relief appearances for the Mets from 1967-78, and he went 4-0 in six postseason starts.
Koosman was traded the Twins after the 1978 season for minor league pitcher Greg Field and a player to be named, who turned out to be star reliever Jesse Orosco.
Koosman was dealt to the Chicago White Sox in August 1981 and to Philadelphia in February 1984. He retired after the 1985 season with a 222-209 record and a 3.36 ERA.
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