The Red Sox are reportedly going to dismiss Bobby Valentine this winter, if what other teams believe is accurate. Or, if you are reading into the fact that neither general manager Ben Cherington nor ownership will comment on the status of Valentine as Red Sox manager past this season. But, according to the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo, that doesn't mean Bobby V will manage in the majors no more:
If the Sox let him go, his managerial career may not be over. Jeffrey Loria had him pretty much hired in Miami before he was pressured to hire a Latin American manager; now Loria is considering replacing Ozzie Guillen. Valentine is also close to Reds owner Bob Castellini, who is at the end of a contract with Dusty Baker.
Ozzie Guillen being replaced after a year is hilarious in the sense that he his most egregious mistake seems to be the fact that he is Ozzie Guillen. Then again, a Marlins fan could say the same thing to us regarding Valentine. So let's not dwell on that line of thinking too long.
Baker's situation is a little different, as he's the manager of the NL-leading Cincinnati Reds. Baker suffered a strokeand has been away from the Reds for nearly a week because of it; it's unclear if the Reds will need to look elsewhere for health reasons, or if Baker will return to work following the season. If it's the former, though, then Valentine might pop back up in Cincy.
Within the same column, Cafardo updates the John Farrell situation as well. There's nothing particularly new here, except one little tidbit worth mentioning:
Speculation is all over the place on how easy or difficult it would be to extract Farrell from his contract. The prevailing thought is that Toronto would hold up Boston for a good player, but those around the Jays believe it would be easier to get him now than it was last year. Farrell is not considered the be-all, end-all to the Jays future, as they hoped when they hired him. But he does provide comfort to the Sox baseball operations staff, which has worked well with him in the past.
If Toronto's people are already thinking the price will be something realistic for Boston, then Farrell does become a more attractive option for the Sox. It's a situation to watch, as much of the desire for Farrell rests on that price tag.