Red Sox fire Bobby Valentine

Its unclear what the organization’s next move will be, as there will need to be a lot of discussion about who can help rebuild a franchise that has put together back-to-back heartbreaking seasons. The good news is, the first step has been taken.

It was not done via press conference; instead, a team press release was issued announcing Valentine’s dismissal. Included were quotes from team officials and Valentine.

Team president and CEO Larry Lucchino:

And then there’s Terry Francona, the proverbial elephant in the room. Would Cherington bring Francona back? Francona’s also going to be interviewed in Cleveland. It would be an odd occurrence, bringing Francona back -- but Boston also had its greatest success in decades under him.

Stranger things have happened in baseball. But not much.

For more on the Red Sox, please visit Over The Monster and SB Nation Boston.

Of all the surprising things. Well, golly. Isn’t this a fine how-do-you-do. Goodness gracious. Bobby Valentine is reportedly going to be out of work soon, with Jon Heyman getting the scoop:

But things were going so well.

Heh. Good one, Bobby. You’ll need that sense of humor in the coming weeks, as it seems your boss isn’t exactly committed to bringing you back next season. From ESPN.com:

You don’t exactly have to read between the lines there. Sure, it’s possible that Ben Cherington & Co. simply haven’t made a decision about Valentine’s future ... But that seems unlikely, doesn’t it? How much more information would they need to gather? This has been a disastrous season for the Red Sox, certainly the worst since the 1970s. It would be one thing if the Red Sox were finishing in last place with a manager who’s kept his nose clean, but when a manager makes a bunch of messes and his team doesn’t play well ... Again, the conclusion to this drama seems pretty obvious. It’s just a question of whether Valentine gets fired immediately after the season’s last game, or he quits before then.

It’s becoming clearer and clearer that Bobby Valentine will not return as Red Sox manager in 2013, despite being under contract for next year.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes that Valentine is likely a goner when the season’s over:

The Red Sox might try to do this again, writes Nick Cafardo:

John Farrell was the Red Sox’ top choice to manage after they fired Terry Francona last October, and every indication this reporter has received from team and major league sources is that he will be their first choice to replace Bobby Valentine.That seems to indicate Valentine is likely a goner, either before season’s end or soon after. But how could such a hiring take place, with Farrell under contract to Toronto through 2013? Cafardo has one suggestion:

The newest disturbance is ... spins the wheel ... Valentine showing up late for a game because his son’s flight was delayed. Well.

Regret returning (to managing)? No, life is a journey ... you learn from misery ... It’s been miserable! But a part of my life’s experience.He also had some choice words for an unnamed breakfast place in Seattle:

This season has been nothing short of a disaster in Boston. They’re 12 games under .500 for the first time in 15 years (even then, they made a late-season recovery to 78-84, something not likely to happen this year), and could finish in last place for the first time in 80 years.

This, just three years after a run of eight playoff seasons out of 12, with two World Series titles.

Apparently, that poor form has been enough to get the personal attention of general manager Ben Cherington and owner John Henry, who are flying into the Northwest to watch the team, according to an article on NESN.com. And definitely not fire manage Bobby Valentine:

Step two, I suppose, is the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’, and step three means no more Valentine. After the year that Boston have had, would anyone be at all surprised?

As we gaze into the fishbowl of Bobby Valentine’s future in Boston, I noticed that no manager has been fired this season. How rare is that? Only twice in the last 70 years have we seen zero manager switches midstream: 2000 and 2006.

↵This probably means nothing, but after the ‘00 and ‘06 seasons, a baseball team fired Buck Showalter.

Is there any baseball owner who gives us more than John Henry? Between that spot-on impression of himself Moneyball: The Movie! to Bill James getting two World Series rings to the many radio appearances and public e-mail messages about the team, Henry’s the gift who just keeps on giving.

So of course he had to respond to Jeff Passan’s story on Yahoo!!! yesterday, about a late-July meeting in New York in which a number of Red Sox players -- 17, they say! -- presumably spent a fair amount of time complaining about ... well, about something. According to Henry, though, it wasn’t really about Bobby Valentine ...

In the wake of Jeff Passan’s exposé about the Red Sox, the Globe’s Peter Abraham acknowledges that Bobby Valentine has been less than perfect, but Abraham reserves most of his opprobrium for the players. Here’s just one tiny example:

↵↵It’s worth reading the whole thing. You know most of the players will. And Abraham will have to face them almost every day between now and season’s end.

For all of that, though, one can’t deny that Valentine has been in the headlines more times in the last five months than Terry Francona was in his last five years. Well, before 2011’s Great Beer & Chicken Affair, anyway. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But usually managers who are in the news this often aren’t worth the hassle, long term.

Remember earlier this month, when Red Sox owner John Henry sent a long e-mail to local reporters, expressing his full support for manager Bobby Valentine? And the same day, when general manager Ben Cherington expressed similar sentiments (a.k.a. “the company line”)?

The reason for those statements might not have been clear, at least to those of us who weren’t on daily Valentine Watch. But now everything makes a bit more sense, because those statements came shortly after ... Hell, it’s Jeff Passan’s story; let’s give him the floor for a moment:

They’ve got the second-highest payroll in Major League Baseball, and the fourth-highest in world-wide professional sports.*

* Actually, I have no idea about that second thing. But come to think of it, football teams have like 60 players on the roster. So don’t hold me to that.

Oh, and entering play on the 6th of August, they had a losing record. So you can understand why the first-year manager’s been feeling a little heat.