Red Sox GM alludes to Bobby Valentine’s managerial demise

Bobby Valentine may last only one season as Red Sox manager. (Seth Wickerham/Getty Images)

Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington today alluded that the team will probably be replacing manager Bobby Valentine.

During a segment on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Morning Show, Cherington did not directly discuss Valentine’s status, but said a search for a new manager would progress more quickly than last year’s process.

“I’d always rather get the decision right rather than rush it,” Cherington said. “But I think that what we know we need to do is hit the ground running in this offseason. One of the things, as I look back at last offseason, that didn’t go perfectly was simply the amount of time that we spent on the manager search and what that did to the rest of the offseason. I would like to spend less time on it this offseason, that’s for sure.”

Valentine said yesterday that he had yet to discuss his job and future as Red Sox manager with Cherington or ownership and wasn’t conceding the end.

Chairman Tom Werner and president Larry Lucchino previously said Valentine will finish the season, but Boston Herald writer Scott Lauber thinks “it’s telling that they have passed up several opportunities to extend their votes of confidence to next year.”

The drawn-out exit of  then-GM Theo Epstein delayed the Red Sox’s search for a new manager. Valentine was the sixth candidate to be interviewed by the team.