The gold standard of Red Sox pitching coaches, John Farrell, has long since left for Toronto. His successor, Curt Young, lasted only a season and left after what amounted to a scandal. So when manager Bobby Valentine was on the hook to come up with a replacement, he knew he had to get it right. He thinks he did, and he didn’t have to go far to find him.

Bob McClure had been hired a month earlier as a scout/roving instructor for the system, but whether or not he left his Kansas City pitching coach job in hopes of someday landing the same spot in Boston, that’s how it worked out. The longtime (19 years), onetime major leaguer was announced as one of three new coaching hires Friday, along with another veteran major leaguer, Jerry Royster, who’ll coach third base, and former Sox coaching assistant Alex Ochoa, who’ll man first base. The group will join newly appointed bench coach Tim Bogar, bullpen coach Gary Tuck and hitting coach Dave Magadan.

“I need someone who could communicate up and down, communicate with me what the needs of the pitchers were and able to communicate with the pitchers what their daily needs might be,” said Valentine, who apologized for the length of the search. “I was looking for someone who had experience, obviously, at the major league level, but also someone who understood both starting and relieving as a pitcher.

“Bob has … a real true grit to him. He can be very sociable and jovial, but he also can be stern when he needs to be and I think that’s a good prerequisite for this job.”

The first order of business for McClure, who worked with the likes of Joaquin Soria and Zach Greinke, will be getting on the same page – with Valentine, with his starters and with his relievers, whoever they might be. An immediate concern will be working with Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves, who’ll be stretched out as starters during the spring.

“From my past experience what I’ve seen is that guys actually end up better,” McClure said. “They’re able to work in spring training because they’re working multiple innings on another pitch. I think there’s a lot of benefits to doing it. You get to see how it works out as far as endurance, as far as being able to repeat your delivery. A lot of relievers are in the bullpen that have starters’ stuff because they don’t have the ability to repeat their delivery for 100, 130 pitches.”

McClure has yet to speak with any of his staff, but when he does, he expects it to be a lot meaner and leaner given how the Sox are reorganizing their training staff. “One of the other major focuses of the baseball operations department,” said Valentine, “is to put together basically a new training and strength and conditioning group that now is being finalized and I’m going to lean on them heavily to have our pitchers as well as our position players exhibit world class conditioning. I don’t think the fans, nor the owners nor the organization, should expect anything less than world-class athletes performing at a world-class level and I think you do that by being in the best physical condition possible.”

As for Valentine, he’s satisfied that his staff is in place and he can get on with the business of planning for spring training. He chose Bogar, the former third base coach, because, “he convinced me that he was ready, able and willing to do as good job as anybody out there. So I was really confident when after talking with Tim that the right thing for him and for the organization was to get him in the dugout and working at my side.”

Royster, he said, sold him because of his major league experience, as well as his managerial experience, which included three years in Korea. “He had three years of fabulous experience of being the only and the first foreign manager to manage in the professional league in Korea. They gave him a month and he lasted three years. I think that gave him the kind of a blueprint that I was looking for for someone to coach third at our ballpark. So Jerry fit the bill.”

Mike Fine may be reached at mikefine@ledger.com.

BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Red Sox announced their 2012 Major League coaching staff on Friday, with some familiar faces sticking around with Bobby Valentine for next season.

 Tim Bogar has been named bench coach, Bob McClure joins the staff as pitching coach, Alex Ochoa has been appointed first base coach and Jerry Royster has been named third base coach, general manager Ben Cherington and Valentine announced Friday.

 Hitting Coach Dave Magadan and Bullpen Coach Gary Tuck will both return in the same roles they held in 2011.

 The 45-year-old Bogar is in his fourth year with the Red Sox in 2012.  He spent the last two seasons as Boston’s third base coach after joining the club as first base coach before the 2009 campaign.  A former infielder, Bogar played 701 Major League games over nine seasons with the Mets (1993-96), Astros (1997-2000) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2001).

Read: Sox, Yankees Only Teams Hit With Luxury Tax

McClure, 59, recently joined the Red Sox organization as a special assignment scout/instructor.  He spent the last six seasons as the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals after being named to that position on October 12, 2005.  During his tenure as Kansas City’s pitching coach, he worked with 2009 American League Cy Young Award Winner Zack Greinke and his 2011 staff’s 4.44 ERA was the best single-season mark for the club since 1994. 

Read: A’s Send Gio Gonzalez To Washington

Ochoa, 39, was the hitting coach for Boston’s High-A Salem affiliate last season and his batters led the Carolina League in on-base percentage (.328), and finished third in average (.254) and slugging (.387).  He began his professional coaching career in 2009 as Boston’s staff assistant and served as a special assistant in the Red Sox Baseball Operations department in 2010.  Ochoa is a veteran of eight Major League seasons.

Both Ochoa and Bogar played under Valentine during their time with the Mets.

The 59-year-old Royster has been involved in professional baseball for over 40 years.  He most recently managed the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization from 2008-10, becoming the league’s first foreign manager.  He led the Giants to the playoffs in each of his three seasons at the helm.  Royster previously served on Major League coaching staffs as third base coach for the Rockies in 1993 and as the Brewers bench coach from 2000 until taking over as interim manager from April 18, 2002 through the end of that season. 

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.

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)

Read More: red sox manager, bobby valentine, gene lamont, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates

It appears the Boston Red Sox have narrowed their search for a new manager to two candidates, Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont. 

Valentine, 61, has not managed in the Major Leagues since 2002, when he managed the New York Mets. He has worked as an analyst for ESPN the previous two years.

Lamont, 64, has not managed in the Major Leagues since 2000, when he managed the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lamont is a former AL Manager of the Year, winning the award in 1993.

According to Pete Abraham of the Globe, an official announcement will not be made until next week at the earliest. 

Nothing will be settled today according to team sources and the earliest an announcement will be made is next week. Gene Lamont did indeed meet with ownership earlier this week, so he joins Bobby Valentine in that regard.

– For more Boston Red Sox coverage, visit our team page, or our blog Over the Monster.