The Boston Red Sox have reportedly finished their exhaustive search for a manager to replace the beleaguered Terry Francona Wednesday by hiring ESPN analyst and former Texas Rangers and New York Mets skipper Bobby Valentine as their 45th helmsman in team history. The move is expected to be announced in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

The Red Sox and new general manager Ben Cherington scoured dugouts throughout the majors to find the puzzle piece that will help put the Red Sox back together after what was a monumental collapse at the end of the 2011 season. They interviewed keen baseball minds like Pete Mackanin, the bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies. They wooed Dale Sveum, whose meeting with team officials in Milwaukee must not have gone well since he ended up in Chicago as the Cubs’ head man. They considered the temperate and smooth Gene Lamont, who ended up being their second choice down the stretch.

The 2011 season in Boston was as volatile and disastrous as any in my major league memory. A 7-20 September highlighted by a complete collapse in the final game of the regular season against the Baltimore Orioles left the Sox on the outside of the playoff window looking in. But that’s only where the circus started. Since then, the almost comical indictment of their fried chicken-eating, beer-drinking starting pitching staff only served to throw ridicule on the team’s leader, Francona, and light the flame under what will obviously be a shake up to the Red Sox roster in the offseason. GM wunderkind Theo Epstein has already high-tailed it out of town to take on the challenge of ending another curse as architect of the Cubs. Francona was accused of losing the team due to his dealing with personal family issues and the toll it may have played on the man, let alone his managerial skills. Who knew a couple of drumsticks and a few Harpoons could cause such turmoil?

The answer is that no one knew, because for all intents and purposes, the whole situation was probably overblown. A group of pampered millionaires who were being raked over the coals in one of the toughest media towns on Earth decided to cruise to the finish line, and it manifested itself in chicken and beer.

Considering the Boston media and the payroll the organization consistently commits to developing World Series contending clubs, I question whether the spotlight on whoever dons the Boston B isn’t already bright enough without the disparagement of a new coach who, if history serves, will call them out on the carpet for putting a batting donut on the wrong way. Bobby Valentine has never been one to pull punches. He’s always been demonstrative, outspoken to a fault, at times misspoken to his own detriment. The man will be Ozzie Guillen without the need for subtitles. Before I even question the acumen of his managerial resume, I simply don’t believe that’s what this Red Sox team needs right now.

The new leadership in the Red Sox front office has to perceive the problems in that locker room in 2010 and ’11 and begin to weed them out. The nature of the core of this Red Sox team has already changed from the team that broke the curse in ’04 and reaffirmed it in ’07. The names Varitek, Ortiz, Papelbon, Lowell , Mueller and Millar are memories. This is Jacoby Ellsbury(notes) and Dustin Pedroia’s(notes) team. They have to lead and get the Carl Crawfords of the world to follow. The pitching staff is going to need some revamping, and despite the far reaching limits of their payroll, the youth of their staff is going to need to step up and the backend of the bullpen is going to need to be addressed with Jonathan Papelbon(notes) already out the door to Philadelphia .

If you were a free agent this offseason, would you now go rushing to Boston with all the instability there, considering they just hired a manager whose reputation is a stone buster? Perhaps the answer to that question is absolutely, if only the man’s managerial record were more impressive. Why is it that when a coach shows charisma enough to make him a viable television analyst his ability to lead other men suddenly skyrockets in the industry? Has Bobby Valentine changed that much since he was fired from the Mets in 2002?

In 15 years of managing in the majors, Valentine has a .510 winning percentage and one National League pennant with the 2000 Mets. When he lost his job with the Rangers in 1992, it took four years for another team to hire him. He hasn’t managed in the majors since 2002. Why is that? He managed for years in Japan and won a title with the Chiba Lotte Marines before he lost that job as well and came back to the States to work for ESPN.

Has Bobby Valentine changed that much? Have the faults that cost him two jobs and left him on the sidelines for nine years been corrected? Has he softened with age where the teaching skills he possesses will come to the forefront and he’ll leave all the dugout disguises and media malarkey behind? For a franchise that puts as much on the line to be a winner each year as the Boston Red Sox, I just can’t justify the risk that those answers are yes.

Valentine hails from Stamford, Connecticut . If you don’t know the geography of Connecticut you would think that it’s a New England town and Valentine will fit in well in Boston . But Stamford is tucked nicely into that little corner of the southwest part of the state that might as well be New York . From his days with the Mets, Valentine has been bathed in the Big Apple.

How much time do you think Red Sox Nation is going to give a New Yorker to right the ship?

SOURCE:

baseballreference.com

ESPN.com

Pete Lieber is a freelance writer and Philadelphia sports enthusiast. Follow him on Twitter at @Lieber14.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Bobby Valentine has accepted the job as new manager of the Boston Red Sox, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.

Skip to next paragraph

Valentine replaces Terry Francona who left the club in September, after the Red Sox had suffered one of the greatest late-season collapses witnessed in Major League Baseball.

Neither  Valentine nor the Red Sox would immediately confirm the agreement but local media, including ESPN where Valentine worked as a sports analyst, said the deal had been made.

Boston.com sports writer Nick Cafardo notes that with Bobby Valentine:

“The Sox stuck their necks out a little and thought outside the box. They are taking somewhat of a chance. They recognized that desperate times need desperate measures.

But in Valentine, they know they’re getting passion, one of the best in-game managers, and a guy who will speak his mind. Intellectually, he fits what they like.”

ESPN said Valentine was currently in Japan and would return to America to be formally introduced as the new manager on Thursday.

The 61-year-old played in the Major Leagues between 1969 and 1979 before moving into management, with spells at the Texas Rangers and the New York Mets as well as periods coaching in Japan.

He last managed in the Major Leagues at the Mets, leaving in 2002.

Valentine left his last management job at Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines in 2009 and began work as an expert television commentator before throwing his hat into the ring for the Red Sox job.

He takes over from Francona, who led the Red Sox to the World Series title in 2004 — ending a championship drought dating back to 1918 – and again in 2007.

Leading the American League East by nine games at the start of the month, the Red Sox lost 20 of their last 27 games to miss out on the playoffs, earning the dubious distinction of the most awful final-month crash, a misery compounded by their status as pre-season favorites after a massive spending spree and a $161 million payroll.

Published: Nov. 29, 2011 at 9:14 PM

BOSTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) — The Boston Red Sox have settled on Bobby Valentine as their new manager, multiple reports indicated Tuesday.

The former New York Mets and Texas Rangers skipper will finalize a deal with the Red Sox when he returns Wednesday from a visit to Japan, WCVB-TV, Boston, reported.

A deal was in the works but not yet complete, The Boston Globe reported, while ESPN said Valentine has already accepted the position.

If confirmed, he would be taking his first managerial assignment in nearly 10 years. Valentine managed the Mets for six-plus seasons before being fired in 2002, and also ran the Rangers for eight years, compiling a 1,117-1,072 regular season record in the majors.

His hiring would mark the first major decision by new Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington, who was awarded the Bosox reins when Theo Epstein left to run the baseball operations of the Chicago Cubs.

Former Manager Terry Francona left the Red Sox in September after winning two World Series titles in eight seasons. His departure was hastened by a late collapse that cost Boston a playoff berth.

Terry Francona, who left the Boston Red Sox in September, is set to be succeeded by Bobby Valentine. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP

Bobby Valentine has accepted the job as new manager of the Boston Red Sox, US media reported on Tuesday.

Valentine replaces Terry Francona, who left the club in September after the Red Sox had suffered one of the greatest late-season collapses witnessed in Major League Baseball.

Neither Valentine nor the Red Sox would immediately confirm the agreement but local media, including ESPN, where Valentine worked as a sports analyst, said the deal had been made.

ESPN said Valentine was currently in Japan and would return to America to be formally introduced as the new manager on Thursday.

The 61-year-old played in the Major Leagues between 1969 and 1979 before moving into management, with spells at the Texas Rangers and the New York Mets as well as periods coaching in Japan.

He last managed in the major leagues at the Mets, leaving in 2002.

Valentine left his last management job at Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines in 2009 and began work as an expert television commentator before throwing his hat into the ring for the Red Sox job.

He takes over from Francona, who led the Red Sox to the World Series title in 2004 – ending a championship drought dating back to 1918 – and again in 2007.

Leading the American League East by nine games at the start of the month, the Red Sox lost 20 of their last 27 games to miss out on the playoffs, earning the dubious distinction of the most awful final-month crash, a misery compounded by their status as pre-season favorites after a massive spending spree and a $161 million payroll.

(Reuters) – Bobby Valentine has accepted the job as new manager of the Boston Red Sox, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.

Valentine replaces Terry Francona who left the club in September, after the Red Sox had suffered one of the greatest late-season collapses witnessed in Major League Baseball.

Neither Valentine nor the Red Sox would immediately confirm the agreement but local media, including ESPN where Valentine worked as a sports analyst, said the deal had been made.

ESPN said Valentine was currently in Japan and would return to America to be formally introduced as the new manager on Thursday.

The 61-year-old played in the Major Leagues between 1969 and 1979 before moving into management, with spells at the Texas Rangers and the New York Mets as well as periods coaching in Japan.

He last managed in the Major Leagues at the Mets, leaving in 2002.

Valentine left his last management job at Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines in 2009 and began work as an expert television commentator before throwing his hat into the ring for the Red Sox job.

He takes over from Francona, who led the Red Sox to the World Series title in 2004 — ending a championship drought dating back to 1918 – and again in 2007.

Leading the American League East by nine games at the start of the month, the Red Sox lost 20 of their last 27 games to miss out on the playoffs, earning the dubious distinction of the most awful final-month crash, a misery compounded by their status as pre-season favorites after a massive spending spree and a $161 million payroll.

(Writing by Julian Linden in New York; Editing by Ossian Shine)