The Red Sox' managerial search, at least as it pertains to former Rangers and Mets manager Bobby Valentine, is on hold for now.
ESPN.com reports that the talks have been put off temporarily while general manager Ben Cherington is in the Dominican Republic. The GM is there to scout Cuban prospect Yeonis Cespedes, while he continues to reorganize the international scouting department.
Reports surfaced on Thursday that Valentine, 62, had emerged as a managerial candidate for the Red Sox in their efforts to replace Terry Francona.
"I'm looking forward to having conversations, if that's what they want to do," Valentine told The Associated Press.
It's the latest delay in a managerial search that the Sox would like to get wrapped up, while at the same time trying to find the right fit, even if that means adding candidates, as they apparently did with Valentine.
"I'm not dissatisfied with the candidates we have," Cherington told reporters earlier this week at the GM meetings. "It's just we feel like there are some unique circumstances here. This is not just any manager's job. This is one where we do feel we're ready to win, and there are challenges related to what happened last year and just generally in the Boston market, as you guys know. I've been very happy with the candidates, and our next manager could very well come from those candidates, but we're not ruling out adding to that field."
Valentine would be the latest addition to a field of interviewees that have included new Cubs manager Dale Sveuem, Pete Mackanin (who has been ruled out by Boston), Gene Lamont, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Torey Lovullo.
"I think we've learned a lot through the interview process — we've learned a lot as we've sort of asked each other questions, both within baseball operations and with ownership, about what is it really that we need right now for this team?" Cherington said.
"So through that process, it's sort of, I think, forced all of us to consider whether the current group, whether we're sort of looking at this in a broad enough way to really make the right decision. Our manager may very well come from the group of candidates that we've already interviewed. At this point, we may not limit ourselves to that."
