DALLAS -- Pitchers again dominated the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings, accounting for 11 of the 15 unprotected players selected Wednesday.

The 121-loss Chicago White Sox had the first pick and selected 24-year-old right-hander Shane Smith from the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

Smith was an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest when he was signed by Milwaukee in July 2021. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound pitcher has gone 13-7 with a 2.69 ERA and 203 strikeouts over 157 innings in 73 appearances (19 starts) over three minor league seasons.

There were 14 teams who made picks in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. Only the Atlanta Braves made two selections, after making none since 2017.

Atlanta chose right-hander Anderson Pilar from the Miami Marlins with the 11th pick and then took infielder Christian Cairo from the Cleveland Guardians with the 15th and final pick in the MLB portion of the draft.

Pilar, 26, was originally signed by the Colorado Rockies as a minor league free agent in 2015 and has pitched in 213 minor league games (17 starts). He has a 28-20 record with a 2.86 ERA.

Teams pay $100,000 to take a player in the major league portion of what is called the Rule 5 draft. The players must stay on the big league roster all of next season or clear waivers and be offered back to their original organization for $50,000.

Six of the 10 players selected during the Rule 5 draft last December in Nashville -- five of them right-handed pitchers -- remained last season with the organization that selected them.

Two of the four position players taken Wednesday by other teams came from the Detroit Tigers organization: catcher Liam Hicks and third baseman Gage Workman.

Miami drafted second after Colorado passed making a selection, and took Hicks. Workman was taken by the Chicago Cubs with the 10th pick.

The Baltimore Orioles lost two right-handed pitchers on back-to-back picks: Juan Nunez to the San Diego Padres with the 12th pick before Connor Thomas went to Milwaukee.

DALLAS -- The Boston Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, using their deep well of prospects to land the best starting pitching available on the trade market.

Catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth and right-hander Wikelman Gonzalez are heading to Chicago in exchange for Crochet.

Crochet thrived in his first season in the White Sox's rotation last year after transitioning from a relief role. While the teams had discussed multiple iterations of a deal, talks accelerated after Boston fell short in attempts to sign outfielder Juan Soto, left-hander Max Fried and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.

Crochet, 25, was dominant over 146 innings this year, striking out 209 while walking just 33. With a fastball that sits at 97 mph, a high-end slider and a cutter he added to great effect, Crochet looked like a frontline starter -- exactly the sort the Red Sox need as they look to rebound from a five-year stretch in which they finished in last place in the American League East three times.

He joins a rotation that includes right-handers Tanner Houck, Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford, and he is likely to get the Opening Day nod for Boston.

Boston's 4.04 ERA ranked fourth in the AL East last season; only the Blue Jays (4.29) had a worse mark.

The allure of Crochet goes beyond his elite stuff and performance. Because he spent the first four years of his career as a relief pitcher, Crochet's salary in arbitration is far less than that of an elite starting pitcher. He is projected to make around $3 million this year and will not be a free agent until after the 2026 season.

Boston entered the winter hoping to add impact starting pitching to a team whose position-playing core is on the upswing. The Red Sox blanched at including any of their top three prospects -- outfielder Roman Anthony, super-utility man Kristian Campbell and shortstop Marcelo Mayer -- in a deal for Crochet.

The White Sox instead add to an increasingly strong farm system by getting the Red Sox's past two first-round picks and two other well-regarded prospects.

White Sox general manager Chris Getz indicated there were five teams serious about a deal for Crochet but Boston stepped up their offer on Tuesday night. The teams talked about a trade for the pitcher last summer which helped move negotiations to a conclusion Wednesday.

"This is a deal that was above what we could have gotten at the deadline from our evaluations," Getz said. "[The July discussions], more or less, set the bar for us, and it wasn't met at the deadline. But we feel like we went past it [Wednesday]."

Teel, 22, is the deal's headliner and was the No. 4 prospect in Boston's system in rankings by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel. Chosen 14th in the 2023 draft, he hit .288/.386/.433 between Double-A and Triple-A last year and is considered big-league-ready. Between Teel and Edgar Quero, the 21-year-old acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in the 2023 trade for Giolito and Ky Bush, the White Sox have arguably the best prospect catching depth in baseball, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kansas City Royals.

Montgomery, 21, dropped to the 12th pick in this year's draft after breaking his right ankle in June during a super regional game with Texas A&M. Projected to go as high as No. 3 in the draft, Montgomery is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound, switch-hitting outfielder with power from both sides of the plate and top-end arm strength. He was rated as the No. 5 prospect in the Red Sox system by ESPN.

Meidroth, 23, went to the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2022 draft and has gotten on base at a .425 clip in his three pro seasons. While he projects to be a second baseman with limited power, Meidroth's plate discipline -- he has 199 walks against 180 strikeouts and has been hit by 28 pitches -- will be his calling card. He played second base, shortstop and third base at Double-A this year and was 12th in ESPN's prospect rankings for Boston.

Gonzalez, 22, was signed for $250,000 out of Venezuela in 2018 and developed into one of Boston's best pitching prospects, landing at No. 17 in ESPN's prospect rankings for the Red Sox. His mid-90s fastball is the best of a four-pitch mix, and while he has struggled with control, striking out 92 and walking 46 in 83 innings at Double-A this season, he joins a strong group of pitching prospects in Chicago, with left-handers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith and right-handers Jairo Iriarte, Grant Taylor and Mason Adams.

The Red Sox's additions are unlikely to stop with Crochet. They have expressed interest in free agent Alex Bregman -- who could play second base or the position he has played his whole career, third base, were the Red Sox to move Rafael Devers to first base -- as well as the best starting pitcher available in free agency this winter, right-hander Corbin Burnes.

ESPN's Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.

Transgender women will no longer be allowed to play in some female domestic tennis and padel tournaments in Britain, in changes to the Lawn Tennis Association's rules.

The LTA is updating its transgender and non-binary participation policy, but this will not affect entry into Wimbledon or ITF, WTA or ATP tournaments staged in the UK.

The policy applies solely to British domestic inter-club competitions. The rules for tour events will continue to be set by the relevant governing body.

From 25 January, transgender women, who were recorded male at birth, will not be eligible to compete in female events in higher graded competitions, which usually involve individuals taking on players from another club or county.

The rules do not extend to events taking place between players from just one venue - such as a club championship or a weekend social tournament. Venues will still be able to decide their own policy in these circumstances.

In updating the policy, the LTA says it has had to balance "two potentially conflicting responsibilities: the need to ensure "competition in our sport is fair and a responsibility to make sure tennis is welcoming and inclusive for everyone."

It also says it appreciates the "diversity of opinion around this matter" and will keep the policy under review in the years ahead.

The current WTA Gender Participation Policy, based on 2015 guidance, is under review in light of the International Olympic Committee's transgender eligibility framework published in 2021.

At the moment, the WTA permits transgender women to participate if they have declared their gender as female for a minimum of four years, have lowered testosterone levels and agree to testing procedures.

The LPGA Golf Tour recently decided that transgender women who have gone through male puberty will no longer be allowed to compete on leading golf tours. That followed the England and Wales Cricket Board's decision last month to say that any player who has gone through male puberty will be ineligible from the top two tiers of the women's game from 2025.

Other sports governing bodies have also changed their policies in recent years, including athletics, cycling and swimming to ban transgender athletes from competing in elite women's competitions.

Simmons, who played at scrum-half, wing and full-back, made his Tigers debut in the Anglo-Welsh Cup against Gloucester in November 2017, with his first tries coming in the same competition against Wasps the following February.

He signed a new contract in March in the hope of resuming fitness.

Tigers general manager Richard Wilks said the club were "proud" of the way Simmons had coped with his injury and the aftermath.

"As a rugby player, Harry was tremendously gifted. As a person, he is loved by staff and team-mates here at the club, and it's been difficult for all of us to see his career end this way," Wilks added.

A tourist with the British and Irish Lions in 2021, Van der Merwe is in his second spell with Edinburgh having returned in 2022 following the collapse of Worcester Warriors, where he spent two years.

He has scored 45 tries in 98 appearances for Edinburgh having initially signed from Montpellier in 2017.

"This club and city are my home," Van der Merwe said. "My wife and I love it here and I'm incredibly proud to represent the city and our supporters.

"I'd be lying if I said other clubs didn't express interest, but Edinburgh is home for me, and my connection to the club and our supporters were a massive driver in my decision to re-sign."

Fenerbahce head coach José Mourinho has said he is not ruling out managing Real Madrid again.

Mourinho, 61, guided Madrid to a LaLiga title, Copa del Rey and Spanish Supercup during his three seasons with at the club between 2010 and 2013.

Asked if he would be open to return to coach Madrid one day, the Portuguese manager said: "I'll always be a big fan of Real Madrid. They have the best coach in the world, my friend Carlo [Ancelotti]. He's doing very well. The future depends on what the president [Florentino Perez] wants, if he wants a young coach with a big projection as Xabi [Alonso] or continue in the same line as Carlo, a coach with experience, or look at the youth section [Madrid reserves coach] with Raul or [Madrid youth team coach Alvaro] Arbeloa. It depends."

Former Madrid midfielder and Bayer Leverkusen coach Alonso is considered to be among the front-runners to succeed Ancelotti, should Madrid part ways with the Italian coach.

Ancelotti, 65, is in his second spell at Madrid and has a contract with the team through June 2026.

Mourinho, who took over the Fenerbahce job six months after leaving Roma, is convinced Madrid president Perez will make the "right" choice when the time comes to name Ancelotti's successor.

"Florentino [Perez] hasn't made many wrong decisions at Madrid," Mourinho said. "I'm certain as a Madrid fan that his next decision will be the right one."

Madrid are second in LaLiga, two points adrift of Barcelona but have a game in hand.

Ancelotti's team won 3-2 at Atalanta in Tuesday's Champions League encounter.

With two games left, Ancelotti's side are 18th in the 36-team Champions League table on nine points, three points off the top eight spots which secure direct qualification to the round of 16.

Pep Guardiola has said he would not want to start again at another club when his contract at Manchester City is up but has not ruled out taking on a national team.

The Catalan manager has signed a two-year extension to his City contract through to 2027 and said international management is a possibility when he leaves the four-time defending Premier League champions.

"I'm not going to manage another team. I'm not talking about the long-term future, but what I'm not going to do is leave Man City, go to another country, and do the same thing as now," Guardiola told celebrity chef Dani Garcia in an interview broadcast this week.

"I wouldn't have the energy. The thought of starting somewhere else, all the process of training and so on. No, no, no! Maybe a national team, but that's different."

Guardiola is widely considered one of the greatest football coaches of all time after a trophy-laden career with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.

He has won 15 major trophies with City, including six league titles in seven years and the Champions League.

By the time his contract expires, he will have spent 11 years at the Etihad Stadium.

He has won 32 major trophies during his coaching career, including league titles in Spain and Germany and a total of three Champions League trophies.

He has not ruled out leaving coaching entirely when his time at City is up.

"I want to leave it and go and play golf but I can't. I think stopping would do me good," he said.

It was unseasonably bright for November when Ruben Amorim arrived at Carrington for the first time. As he stepped out of the black Mercedes van that took him straight to the training ground from Manchester Airport's private terminal, he was met by Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox.

"You see the weather?" Amorim said with a beaming smile. Yet the sun didn't last and by the time the Portuguese tactician held his first news conference as United's new head coach two weeks later, the weather had turned to the usual winter rain and ice. It was so dark outside that extra lights had to be brought in to illuminate the room.

The brightness of Amorim's honeymoon at Old Trafford hasn't lasted long either.

On Wednesday, the 39-year-old celebrates one month in the job, and he's already had to deal with the departure of Ashworth -- exiting after just five months in the sporting director role -- a row over the Premier League's LGBTQ+ initiative, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe's unpopular decision to raise ticket prices.

That's on top of his main task of getting an underperforming team back on the right track despite having precious little time on the pitch during English's football's hectic festive fixture list. United have nine games (Premier League, Carabao Cup and Europa League) in December alone, with consecutive defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest merely adding to the gloom.

"The storm will come," warned Amorim after watching United beat Everton 4-0 in his third game in charge. It has perhaps arrived even sooner than he thought.

What Amorim has brought to Man United in his first month

Amorim's appointment as Erik ten Hag's successor was led, primarily, by Berrada. During negotiations, the newly installed CEO didn't try to sugarcoat the size of the task, but sources have told ESPN that Amorim already believes the job will be more complicated than he first thought. His five games in charge have yielded two wins, two defeats, a draw, and a mixed bag of performances.

Parachuted into the job midseason, the former Sporting CP coach has tried to compensate for a lack of time on the training field with extended sessions on the full-size pitch in the academy hall. Ten Hag and his staff would primarily use the area for warm-ups, but Amorim conducts tactical walk-throughs focused on player positioning during different phases of the game.

Everyone is expected to take part, even if they're just watching. Sources have told ESPN that Amorim doesn't hold many individual meetings with players -- those are left to his assistants -- and as much of the work as possible is done as a team.

This team focus is one of the reasons Amorim was willing to back the squad's decision to opt out of wearing specially made LGBTQ+ jackets ahead of the game of Everton after Noussair Mazraoui -- a devout Muslim -- chose not to take part on religious grounds. It follows the mantra that the squad either does it together or not at all.

Amorim also began defending his players in his first news conference before a ball was kicked. "I truly believe in the players," he said. "I know you guys [the media] don't believe a lot in these players, but I believe a lot."

Sources familiar with the hiring process have told ESPN that part of Berrada's interest in Amorim was driven by the bond he builds with his players. United chose to move on from Ten Hag in part because of a feeling that he could be too distant from the squad.

At 39, Amorim is still young enough to remember what he liked and disliked as a player during his spells at Benfica and Braga, and it's shaped the way he coaches. It's one of the reasons he doesn't hold traditional postmatch team talks; instead, players are invited to hold their own debrief after the final whistle if they wish, and Amorim addresses them the following day. It gives him a chance to further analyse parts of the game and deliver a clear assessment once the emotion of matchday has died down.

He doesn't do lengthy half-time team talks either, and often spends the majority of the break preparing his substitutes. He came out of the dressing room at half-time against Arsenal at the Emirates nearly 10 minutes before the restart to focus on giving instructions to Amad Diallo.

Having inherited a squad low on confidence, team spirit and togetherness is a priority. Players returning to training after injury are welcomed by running the gauntlet and getting playfully slapped on the head by the rest of the squad. He's able to speak to players in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and has taken time to get to know their families.

Amorim is young and charismatic, but he's not just at Old Trafford to be everyone's friend. He was furious during the game against Everton that one of his substitutes wasn't immediately ready to come on when he asked.

He has also introduced some strict rules like banning food in the dressing room on matchdays. Instead of doing MUTV interviews in a small room in the Jimmy Murphy Building frequently used by Ten Hag, he prefers to do them standing up in front of a sponsors backdrop in the reception area.

What month two at Man United will bring for Amorim

Amorim's family are set to move to Manchester in January once his two young children have finished the first half of the school year. Currently staying in a city centre hotel, he's looking for a house in the area. He's planning to spend Christmas working -- United face struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Boxing Day -- and will have a small celebration with his staff after training. Because of United's hectic schedule with three matches between Dec. 22 and Dec. 30, his family will spend Christmas in Portugal and travel to Manchester in the new year.

The Christmas fixture list is something Amorim is working hard to manage, with sources at the club telling ESPN that he is relying heavily on performance data to decide which players can train and play. Any player close to the "red zone" is rested in an attempt to avoid injury. Amorim is well aware of the injury problems that played a part in Ten Hag's downfall -- long first-team absences from the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia plagued the Dutchman -- and he's determined to avoid a repeat.

Minutes on the training pitch and in games are being managed carefully. Amorim is conscious that asking the squad to begin running more midway through the season is a tough task, particularly when preseason fitness levels were decided by another manager.

Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked to improve the fitness of the players when he took over from José Mourinho in December 2018. It initially paid off, with United winning 14 of their first 17 games under the Norwegian, but their form fell off a cliff in March. United won just two of their final 12 games of the season, with player burnout considered a major factor in the decline. Sources told ESPN at the time that the data from a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford in April 2019 showed that Pep Guardiola's team were far fitter -- exactly the scenario Amorim is keen to avoid.

Amorim's former club, Sporting CP, is one of Portuguese football's biggest names, but he's admitted he's still coming to terms with the size of United and attention that comes with it. But despite the mountain of media requests, he performs the ones he's contractually obliged to do with the same smile he wore when he first arrived. Asked at the end of one interview to do a second take so the cameras could capture him walking into the room and shaking hands, he joked afterwards that his acting "should win the Oscar."

Amorim, however, has his eyes firmly trained on winning other prizes. His first month at Old Trafford has shown him exactly how tough that might be.