Red Sox acquire former FGCU star Chris Sale

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Chicago White Sox have traded former Florida Gulf Coast University standout Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox, the teams announced.

The move was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Prospects Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech go to Chicago, as do Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

The deal means Sale, this year’s All-Star Game starting pitcher for the American League, will spend spring training in Fort Myers, where the Red Sox make their preseason home.

Sale, a left-hander with a distinctive delivery, went 11-0 with a 2.01 ERA in his junior season at FGCU in 2010, vaulting him near the top of the draft board for many teams. The White Sox took him with the 13th overall pick in the draft that June, and by August, he was in the majors.

Initially a relief pitcher for the White Sox, he was converted to a starter in 2012 and soon established himself as an ace. He led the American League with 274 strikeouts in 2015, but his relationship with the Sox soured this season.

Sale was suspended by the team for five days without pay for destroying collared 1976-style uniforms the team was scheduled to wear July 23, saying they were uncomfortable. He lost $250,000 of his $9.15 million salary and also was fined about $12,700 – the cost of the cut-up jerseys. He blamed manager Robin Ventura for not defending his players.

During spring training, Sale was quite vocal about the decision to limit the time teammate Adam LaRoche’s son was allowed in the clubhouse. That flap led to hard feelings all around, along with LaRoche’s retirement.

Sale, who’ll turn 28 in March, is due to make a team-friendly $12 million this coming season, with team options for 2018 and 2019.

He was a top trade target at this week’s winter meetings, and the AL East champion Red Sox beat out the Washington Nationals, who also pursued him.

A few hours earlier, Boston got prime setup man Tyler Thornburg from Milwaukee. After that deal was announced, without tipping his hand, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said: “We’re trying to win now, as you can see.”

Boston went 93-69 this past season, then got swept by Cleveland in the AL Division Series and finish out the career of retiring slugger David Ortiz.

The Red Sox signed Moncada in March 2015 for a $31.5 million bonus, the largest ever for an amateur player, and paid an additional $31.5 million in tax. For the $63 million, the 21-year-old played a total of eight games in the majors, all this season, and batted .211 with one RBI.

The 20-year-old Kopech was the 33rd overall pick in the 2014 amateur draft. The right throws hard and went 4-1 with a 2.08 as a starter in Class A.

Basabe, also 20, hit .264 with 53 RBIs in Class A. Diaz, a 22-year-old righty, went 2-5 with a 3.88 ERA in relief in Class A.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.