Red Sox Won’t Fire Bobby Valentine

The Red Sox sit with a .500 record with 52 games remaining in the season and are just 4.0 games back in the Wild Card hunt.  To many of Red Sox Nation, a 55-55 record at this point of the season with this club is simply unacceptable.  Some fans want manager Bobby Valentine fired, while others blame the players and/or the owners.  But a firing doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon as principal owner John Henry put it in writing that a change in manager won’t be happening.  It was later reiterated by GM, Ben Cherington.

WEEI.com posted an email reply by Henry outlining his view on the state of the Red Sox and he makes no bones about it, this is not Bobby’s fault and that a change in the manager position will not be made.  Henry pointed out the devastating number of injuries to key players as a key factor in the fourth place position in the ever competitive AL East and highlights that players have played through injuries all season long.

Henry also addressed the owner’s commitment to the club, stating that if they aren’t on the road with the team, they are watching the game via the NESN telecast.

Alex Speier of WEEI.com tweeted on Monday night a quote from Cherington, reinforcing Henry’s comments:

"“Cherington: ‘Bobby’s our manager. We’re not considering anyone else”"

What’s interesting is that neither Cherington nor Henry gave Bobby a vote of confidence.  You can read between the lines if you want and say that this is precisely what they gave Bobby, but the fact is they never came out and said it.  Henry defended the job done by Bobby, pointing out the obvious obstacles that have handcuffed this club, but neither of them confirmed that Valentine would be around after this season or for the remainder of this year for that matter.  Rather Cherington refused to answer that difficult question when asked if Bobby was going to be the manager for rest of the 2012 season.

"“I’m not going to comment on that,” he said. “He’s our manager. I’m not getting into timelines. I’m not going to get into a timeline for myself either. We’re just doing the job right now, doing the job the best we can, and we’re focused on making it better and I support Bobby.” – courtesy of the Boston Herald"

Much has been made about Bobby’s in-game decisions, often leaving in his starters too long and costing the Sox some much needed victories.  But perhaps bigger than the slow hook is Bobby’s inability to refrain from running his mouth, particularly in regards to his players.  First it was Kevin Youkilis and now most recently his comments about Will Middlebrooks that Bobby brought up on radio.

I said at the time of the Valentine hiring that he is a reporters dream, constantly providing headline type material, good, bad or otherwise. Now it appears the Red Sox won’t be making any moves with Valentine, at least not during the remainder of the 2012 season.

Our latest poll asks if you think the Red Sox should fire Bobby Valentine.  At post time, 57% of the 328 votes cast to date were in favor of firing Valentine.  Be sure to cast your vote and leave a comment on how you feel about the Valentine saga.

Staff writer, Earl Nash recently posted the first of a six part series where he goes in depth to explore who is really at fault for ruining our beloved Red Sox.  The first part was on the owners.  Part two will be posted Tuesday where Earl looks at the Larry Luchhino.