Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Ross, Farrell, Cherington

Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Ross, Farrell, Cherington:

Earlier today, the Red Sox (re-)introduced John Farrell to the Boston media, two days after sending Mike Aviles north of the border to free him from the manager from his contract with the Blue Jays.  Here's more on the Red Sox..

• In an interview with NBC's Bob Costas, former Red Sox skipper Bobby Valentine opined that David Ortiz quit on the team after their blockbuster deal with the Dodgers, writes Matthew Pouliot of HardballTalk.  "He realized that this trade meant that we’re not going to run this race and we’re not even going to finish the race properly and he decided not to play anymore. I think at that time it was all downhill from there," said Valentine.  The slugger is currently working to iron out a new deal with Boston.
• Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) found it interesting that Farrell mentioned Cody Ross right away when asked about players that he has reached out to.  Ross is set to hit the open market after turning in a strong campaign on a one-year, $3MM deal.
• There has been talk that the Blue Jays are upset with the Red Sox over what they perceive as tampering in the courtship of John Farrell, but GM Ben Cherington says that nothing of the sort took place, writes Alex Speier of WEEI.com.  "I can say definitively that wherever that speculation was coming from, it wasn't coming from me. The only conversations I had about the situation were directly to [CEO] Paul [Beeston] and [GM] Alex [Anthopoulos]'s until Saturday, when I got a chance to talk to John," said Cherington.
• The solid relationship and familiarity between Cherington and Farrell will be key to the club's success going forward, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.