Bobby Valentine-Outside of the Box

Love him or hate him, the last thing you can accuse Bobby V of is being boring.  He has made every attempt to rile up the “Evil Empire.”

Right out of the blocks he told the media about his hatred of the Yankees.  Then calling Jason Varitek a “man’s man” for stuffing his mitt in A-Rods face.  The other day criticizing Derek Jeter‘s famous flip play as a shortstop being out of position. 

The Yankees aren’t Bobby V’s only target.  He seems to be enjoying the banter between himself and former Sox Manager, Terry Francona.  The two have been going back and forth since the start of spring training.  Funny thing is, the Sox players seem to be on Valentine’s side.

These are just examples of how Valentine does things different from other Major League Managers.  Which leads to speculations by many media types that Bobby V is going to do something out of the ordinary this season that will surely get everyone’s attention.

Some of the rumors I have heard are these:

Not only will Daniel Bard make the starting rotation, but will be the opening day starter.  That will put Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz on notice that they can be replaced.

Carl Crawford will bat second, disrupting the entire lineup by pushing every one down one slot.  Pedroia batting third, followed by Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz batting sixth.

When Daisuke Matsuzaka returns, he will be implanted right into the rotation and make them a six man rotation.

Jose Iglesias will be the starting shortstop opening day.

He is going to force David Ortiz to bunt if the other team puts the shift on.

New acquisitions, Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey will switch roles with Melancon closing and Bailey the set up man.

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