BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox tweaked their bullpen and bench with a pair of moves Wednesday, acquiring reliever Mark Melancon and utility infielder Nick Punto in separate deals.

After losing closer Jonathan Papelbon in free agency last month, the Red Sox obtained Melancon from the Houston Astros in a trade for infielder Jed Lowrie and right-hander Kyle Weiland.

Hours later, the team announced it had signed Punto to a two-year contract. He replaces Lowrie — both are switch-hitters who can play all over the infield.

The 34-year-old Punto gets a two-year, $3 million, two-year deal. Rangy and reliable on defense, he batted .278 with one homer and 20 RBIs in 63 games with the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals last season. He had a .388 on-base percentage.

Melancon gives the Red Sox a potential replacement for Papelbon, who signed a four-year, $50,000,058 contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Melancon had 20 saves for Houston this year, going 8-4 with a 2.78 ERA in 71 relief outings during his first full major league season.

The 26-year-old right-hander pitched a total of 35 games in 2009 and 2010 with the New York Yankees and Houston.

“The more experience he was able to get gave him more confidence to go out and throw,” Astros manager Brad Mills said on a conference call.

Mills wasn’t ready to name his new closer.

“We’ll have to assess the situation,” he said. “We’re not going to figure out our entire pitching situation on Dec. 14.”

Weiland will be given a chance to win a spot in the Houston rotation. To make room on their 40-man roster, the Astros designated infielder Brian Bixler for assignment.

The 27-year-old Lowrie should fill a vacancy at shortstop for Houston. Clint Barmes started 120 games there last season, then signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Lowrie spent time on the disabled list each of the last three seasons because of problems with his left wrist, left forearm and right shoulder, and a bout with mononucleosis. He played all four infield positions last season and hit .252 with six homers and 36 RBIs in a career-high 88 games.

“For me it’s about playing, and that’s always what I’ve wanted,” Lowrie said. “Hopefully, I get that opportunity in Houston.”

But he is going from a perennial contender to a rebuilding team.

“I had a couple of years of playoff experience in Boston and I think it was an opportunity for me to learn what it is on the biggest stage in baseball,” Lowrie said. “I want to bring that experience and that winning attitude and culture to Houston. Even if the team is rebuilding, it’s about winning.”

Weiland, 25, was 0-3 with a 7.66 ERA in seven games, including five starts, this year for Boston. He spent most of the season in the minors but was promoted when several Red Sox starters were sidelined by injuries.

Mills said Weiland would compete for a spot in Houston’s rotation.

The diminutive Punto made 10 postseason starts at second base for the Cardinals. He is a .249 career hitter with 14 home runs and 218 RBIs in 887 career games with the Phillies (2001-03), Twins (2004-10) and Cardinals (2011). His teams have made it to the postseason four times.

Punto’s salary is $1.5 million each of the next two years. He can make an additional $250,000 each season in bonuses for days on the active roster.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Boston Red Sox are planning to try out setup man Daniel Bard in the starting rotation next season. And they have already lost super-closer Jonathan Papelbon to the Philadelphia Phillies via free agency.

So that leaves a pretty big gaping hole at the back end of the Sox bullpen, doesn’t it? CBS Sports reports that the Red Sox are “still eyeing” former Phillies closer Ryan Madson to help fill that gap.

The 31-year-old Madson has spent his nine-year career with the Phils as a setup man until last season when he took over the closing duties. In 34 opportunities, Madson saved 32 games last season, striking out 62 in 60.2 innings pitched. His ERA in 2011 was 2.37, significantly down from his career average of 3.59, though his ERA hasn’t come close to being that high in years.

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Related: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies

So, Bobby Valentine will be the new manager of the Boston Red Sox. Surprised? Not me. The now 61-year-old former skipper of the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Chiba Lotte Marines said a few years ago while still working in Japan, “I plan to be in uniform until I’m 70 years old.”

After two years of not wearing a team logo, Valentine will be back where he belongs — in the dugout, this time at historic Fenway Park.

The news broke on Wednesday Japan time that Boston had decided to hire Valentine over Gene Lamont, the other of two finalists for the job. At the time, Valentine was en route back to the U.S. from Japan where he had come to participate in a few charity events, including further assistance to victims of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami disasters.

Valentine will be leaving his job as an ESPN baseball analyst and, although most who of those with experience both managing and broadcasting may prefer being behind the microphone because of the pressure of making decisions from the bench, it is easy to understand where Valentine would rather be. It is most certainly not in the telecast booth.

The consideration and eventual selection of Valentine as the successor to Terry Francona drew a mix of comments from Red Sox fans on the team website. Many said Valentine’s personality would not be a good fit in Beantown; others insisted their club, torn apart by a disastrous September performance and failure to make the playoffs, needs a guy like Valentine to light a fire and reignite the winning ways the Red Sox have enjoyed for the most part since 2004.

At the end of the coming season, one of those two groups will be saying, “I told you so.” Knowing Bobby, I’ll bet it will be the latter.

Remember how Valentine’s managerial career in Japan came to an end with Lotte after the 2009 season? No one wants to go out that way, and now he will have one more shot as a big league field boss of one of the American League’s high-profile ballclubs.

You can be assured he will make the most of his chance with Red Sox Nation at fascinating Fenway where the “Green Monster” looms, the New England clam chowder is tasty and the crowd joins with Neil Diamond’s voice in singing “Sweet Caroline” prior to the bottom of the eighth inning of each home game.

No doubt all of Valentine’s friends and fans in Japan will be pulling for him to succeed, and the Baseball Bullet-In wishes him the best of luck in his exciting new job.

You read where former Hankyu Braves and Kintetsu Buffaloes manager Yukio Nishimoto died Nov. 25 in Osaka at the age of 91. A long-time popular baseball figure in the Kansai area, Wakayama Prefecture native Nishimoto was one of those not-so-great players who went on to become a successful manager.

He assumed his first managerial position at age 40 when he took over the Daimai Orions in 1960, winning the Pacific League pennant. Nishimoto then managed the Braves from 1963 to 1973, accumulating five more PL titles. His career as a field boss ended in 1981 after eight years piloting the Buffaloes during which time he tacked on two more league championships.

In eight trips to the Japan Series, however, Nishimoto never won, not even once, and he is perhaps best remembered for what was perceived as a blunder in the 1979 final. Playing at home in Osaka against the Hiroshima Carp with the bases full, one out and down by a run in the bottom of the ninth inning, the manager flashed the suicide squeeze bunt sign.

Kintetsu batter Shigeru Ishiwata missed the pitch thrown by Hiroshima reliever Yutaka Enatsu, the runner from third was tagged out, and the Buffaloes never scored. Since two of the team’s best hitters, Toru Ogawa and Charlie Manuel, were due to follow Ishiwata, Nishimoto took a firestorm of criticism for the failed strategy move.

Besides managing Manuel, the currently successful manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Nishimoto also directed another colorful foreign slugger from Japanese baseball history in Daryl Spencer with Hankyu.

In 1971-72, Spencer, at age 42-43, served as Nishimoto’s first base or third base coach but was kept on the active roster and, in a move rarely-if ever-seen in today’s game, the American would often come off the coaching lines late during a game in a key situation for a pinch-hitting appearance.

After retirement, Nishimoto stayed in the game for a while as a TV and radio commentator but will always be remembered as a perennial Japan Series runnerup and for that suicide squeeze incident of 32 years ago.

Finally this week, author Robert Fitts who wrote “Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball” is coming out with his next book. This one is “Banzai Babe Ruth,” and it is billed as a tale of murder and espionage centering around the 1934 postseason trip to Japan by the Sultan of Swat and other major league all-stars.

“Banzai Babe Ruth” comes out in February, but Fitts says Amazon.com has recently posted the book for pre-ordering. Fellow author Robert Whiting, the king of books about Japanese baseball including “You Gotta Have Wa” and “The Meaning of Ichiro,” said, “Banzai” is “Fitts’ best work and will be a valuable addition to any baseball (or Japan) lover’s library.” Check it out today.

Contact Wayne Graczyk at Wayne@JapanBall.com

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.

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The Boston Red Sox have narrowed their managerial search to two candidates — Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont.

The team is expected to announce Valentine or Lamont as its next manager within the next week, a major league source confirmed to FOXSports.com.

The organization has spent nearly two months looking for the successor to Terry Francona, who won two World Series titles in eight years.

Valentine, currently an ESPN analyst, has managed in the major leagues for 15 seasons, most recently with the New York Mets in 2002. Lamont, the third-base coach with the Detroit Tigers, managed the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates for four seasons each.

The Red Sox attempted to engage the Toronto Blue Jays in discussions about acquiring Toronto manager John Farrell, who has two years left on his contract, but those talks failed to progress.

Baseball saw one managerial “trade” this offseason, with Ozzie Guillen going from the White Sox to the Miami Marlins in exchange for two minor leaguers.

The Red Sox previously interviewed Philadelphia bench coach Pete Mackanin, Cleveland bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and Toronto first-base coach Torey Lovullo, but they no longer are under consideration.

Dale Sveum met with Red Sox officials multiple times before accepting an offer to manage the Chicago Cubs.
 

The Boston Red Sox offered salary arbitration to
designated hitter David Ortiz and right-handed reliever Dan Wheeler.

They announced the moves before Wednesday’s deadline, also declining to offer
arbitration to catcher Jason Varitek, right-handed knuckleballer Tim
Wakefield, left-handed pitchers Erik Bedard and Trever Miller and outfielders
J.D. Drew and Conor Jackson.

Ortiz, 36, has played for the Red Sox since 2003 while Wheeler finished his
first season with the team.

The Sox are eligible to receive compensation for Ortiz, a Type A free agent,
and Wheeler, a Type B free agent. The players have until December 7 to accept
or decline that offer.

Varitek and Wakefield were cornerstones of the team that started a new winning
tradition for the Red Sox, but both are on the downside of their careers.

Varitek, 39, has played all 15 of his major league seasons in Boston and
Wakefield has pitched there since 1995, winning his 200th career game this
past season.

Former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who signed with Philadelphia earlier
this month, was a Type A free agent and will yield Boston compensation.

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