Yesterday we learned that the Red Sox have spoken with former MLB manager Bobby Valentine about managing again. It doesn’t appear that the Red Sox are close to announcing a new skipper, but here’s the latest on the subject as we await a decision…
- With Ben Cherington in the Dominican Republic on a scouting trip, the Red Sox will hold off any further talks with Valentine, reports Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston.
- "Hiring Valentine would give the appearance of a power play by ownership over" Cherington, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Cherington was rumored to prefer new Cubs manager Dale Sveum or "a similar low-volume candidate."
- There’s at least one unknown yet serious candidate for the job, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.
- Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo, Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont all are expected to interview again, according to Silverman.
- The Red Sox have nothing to show for their search, but Joel Sherman can’t remember an offseason “in which a franchise seemed more scattershot and fractured than the Yankees between the 1995-96 seasons.” The Yankees won four of the next five World Series from that point on. More recently, the Red Sox didn’t hire Terry Francona until December of 2003 and won a pair of World Series.
- Earlier today, Jon Heyman of SI.com explained the dynamics between GM Ben Cherington and his bosses.
Keystone cops.
Gene Lamont.
Pa-Lease…
Bobby V.. The feelers now are all leading his way.. Cherrington does not seem to like it.. Then who would if Boston ( or any team) hired a manger where a team hired a manger who knew more about the game and how it operated than the person who was supposed to be running the organization.. Cherrington?
Bobby V would be a terrible idea in Boston, and if Cherington doesn’t like the idea it’s definitely not because Valintine knows more about baseball than Cherington, that’s ridiculous.
I’m not sure he would be terrible…at least not in the short run. I wouldn’t want to see him in Boston more than two years though, max. But I do think his brashness could have a positive effect on the clubhouse at least, and he pays enough attention to stats and such that the FO might not totally hate him. Of course then again, he could easily embarrass Boston in the media, and I would think the owners wouldn’t be interested in that.
I just think, if Bobby V ends up as our manager, I will be worried more than if it was Sveum, for instance. But I don’t think it would be a catastrophy.
All that said, I hope that Alomar gets it.
He’s not just brash though, he’s arrogant and and self important too. The Sox need someone who can and will lay down the law, but not someone who will publicly call out players for not following said law.
I don’t want to get into the argument about who knows more about baseball, but I love the idea of a couple of seasons of Bobby V to rebuild team discipline and work ethic. You can’t say that V won’t bring those important characteristics back to the Sox.
Bobby is definitely one who would lay down the law, but isn’t one to do it in a way to actually get the players on board with it. He is an egomaniac and an attention whore, he intentionally and publicly snipes players, he has clashed with owners who were far less intrusive than Boston’s owners, he hasn’t managed in the majors in a decade and didn’t have a good overall track record even back when he did manage.
All of the other stuff aside, the last thing Boston’s clubhouse needs is a manager who calls players out publicly and intentionally stirs things up. That would be like throwing a lit match into a can of gasoline. There’s a reason there was dissension in the Mets clubhouse in the early 2000’s, and there’s a reason he was fired by the Mets and hasn’t had a job in MLB since.
Isn’t Bobby V the guy who whined about how long Red Sox-Yankees games were taking this past summer on some ESPN game broadcast? I’m not sure how well that would go over.
Yeah that was him. And also, whether he really is or not, he always comes across like a raging alcoholic on a 3 day bender when he’s on T.V.
Calling it now….it’ll be Francona
Bill Belichick
LOL!!!
Sandy Alomar!
Bring Back Ralph Houlk or did he die??
Im thinking the mystery man is Mike Hargrove.
“The Yankees won four of the next five World Series from that point on. More recently, the Red Sox didn’t hire Terry Francona until December of 2003 and won a pair of World Series”.
This just in….the Cubs have fired Sveum after being named manager for 2 days. They ARE in talks to resign him by Monday…Then they will probably fire him again and rehire him next week. Cubs aim to follow the examples of the scattered brain Sox and Yankee teams that later went on to win WS rings.
I think people are reading too much into the situation of the Sox not having a manager and by doing so are claiming its the ownership not trusting Cherrington. What if it’s simply they’re not rushing into things. Can’t they simply just be taking their time and letting the decision process work itself out.
I think you have a better handle on it than Kepner does. When Theo came on board, Larry was in charge. Everywhere Theo went, Larry went with him. He taught Theo how to be a GM. By late 2005, Theo was ready to drop the training wheels. Cherington is going to be on training wheels for a year or two. Its not about trust. Its about learning how to balance his “baseball mind,” which is great, with a “please the boss” business decision-making regimen. One can’t say that the Sox don’t know how properly to cultivate executive talent.
Well I’m just really tired of this BS of media trying to turn the entire thing into a soap opera. Really listening to some of these sportswriters you just know in their next article about the Boston front office there’s going to be an affair, an unwanted pregnancy, and a death.
My take on things is simple. So far the Red Sox have made no moves because they want to make sure the move isn’t just the right move for today because it feeds the press and their salivating readers but the right move for the long run.
I’m actually pleased they’re taking their time, if they made quick moves wouldn’t you think they were simply trying to fix everything with a band aid and a smile.
Purple, I’m also pleased that they’re not rushing things. At this point, I see only two semi-legit reasons to want to get a guy hired sooner than later.
1. Get the guy you want before someone else snaps him up.
2. Get your manager in place if you think that his presence is a selling point for your team with free agents.
“Well I’m just really tired of this BS of media”
Ha! Welcome to Boston, right? We get upset even when we win.