Red Sox Introduce Valentine, Insist Cherington Recommended The Hire

Red Sox Exec VP & GM Ben Cherington on Thursday introduced Bobby Valentine as the team's 45th manager and "disputed any notion that Valentine was not his choice and that he wound up on the losing end of a power struggle" with President & CEO Larry Lucchino, according to Michael Vega of the BOSTON GLOBE. Valentine "agreed to a two-year contract, with options for 2014 and 2015" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/2). In Boston, John Tomase notes Valentine "displayed everything that makes him such a compelling figure during his introductory press conference." Tomase writes, "The Bobby V. era may have been preceded by no shortage of skepticism ... but let’s just call Day 1 a grand slam." Red Sox Owner John Henry said, "The question is, would (fellow candidate) Torey Lovullo have gotten an ovation? Probably not. Bobby’s a big personality" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/2). Also in Boston, Peter Abraham wrote, "You have to give the guy credit for making a good first impression" (BOSTON.com 12/1). In Boston, Dan Shaughnessy in a front-page piece notes Valentine's press conference "was cleverly scheduled for 5:30 p.m., allowing every local television station (and ESPN) to carry it live." Shaughnessy notes Thursday was "a big moment. How big? John Henry, who hadn’t been seen locally since he burst into the 98.5 The Sports Hub studios in October, interrupted his Liverpool duties to sit in" on the press conference. Boston baseball's "winter of defection and discord was badly in need of this." Asked about the "widespread notion that he was overruled by ownership" in this hire, Cherington said, "That’s just not true. This was a very thorough process. I made this recommendation to ownership on Monday. That’s the truth. This was a collaborative process." Lucchino said, "Ben recommended this. It was spearheaded by Ben. And highly collaborative." Shaughnessy: "Key word: collaborative" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/2).

COMING TOGETHER: In N.Y., David Waldstein notes it appeared Cherington had been "seeking a young manager with whom he could grow into the job." However, Lucchino said Thursday that he "was always looking for someone like Valentine." Lucchino: "I was, personally. That's what I was looking for." But he added, "This was a rigorous, collaborative process. That’s the way we do things around here. If there is anything that ownership should be actively involved in, it certainly would be the selection of the general manager and the field manager.” Cherington said that after "meeting Valentine and then interviewing him, he was so impressed that he in turn recommended him to Lucchino and his fellow owners, John Henry and Tom Werner." Henry acknowledged and dismissed the perception "that there is some sort of instability, or that we don’t know what we’re doing here." He said, "I’ve been reading some of these things and I think it’s just opinion. If you’re on the inside, Ben ran a terrific process" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/2). Cherington said, "At the end of the process, I made a recommendation to ownership, I believe it was sometime on Monday, that we offer the position to Bobby, and we did sometime Monday or Tuesday morning, then he accepted it. That is the truth. It was a collaborative process. Ownership, as they absolutely should be, was involved in the discussion about all the candidates" (BOSTON.com, 12/1). 

BREAKING DOWN THE MOVE: In Boston, Nick Cafardo writes, "Red Sox ownership got this right." It might "have been in a roundabout way, it might have been methodical, and there might be the perception that it wasn’t Ben Cherington’s call -- though ownership and Cherington insisted yesterday that it was." But "in the end, Red Sox Nation needed toughness, credibility, and excitement, and they got it in Valentine." Henry said, "We told Ben from the beginning that this was going to be his choice. But with a decision this big, one that we last made eight years ago, we felt we had wanted input." Red Sox sources said that Valentine will earn "slightly less than $3 million per season" under his contract (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/2). On Long Island, Ken Davidoff writes in "hiring Valentine, and in the way they did so, the Red Sox created the impression of front-office instability and indecision." They "attempted to clean up that mess Thursday, but their explanations didn't pass the sniff test" (NEWSDAY, 12/2).