So what are Red Sox fans to think? In less than a week's time, the team went from having five viable candidates to informing Pete Mackanin that he was out of the running and seeing Dale Sveum sign with the Chicago Cubs. No word on Sandy Alomar, Jr., Torey Lovullo or Gene Lamont just yet because the story now has turned to "The Red Sox are going to name Bobby Valentine as their new manager".
Wait, what?
The Red Sox have not stated publicly that they are looking at Valentine for the position (although Valentine has spoken publicly, saying he'd be interested, making one wonder if he could be the source of the rumors) but they have come out and said they aren't ruling out interviewing other candidates.
Terry Francona resigned from the team on September 30th and, seemingly, on November 19th the team isn't much closer to having a manager than they were after his press conference. It's worth noting that Francona wasn't hired until the first week of December in 2003 so the Red Sox are on pace with their former hiring timeline. It's completely possible that there could be an announcement after Thanksgiving that the Red Sox have chosen their manager...and it's remotely possible that the next manager could be Bobby Valentine.
Choosing a big-name manager such as Valentine over lesser-known names almost sounds like a publicity stunt for an ownership that hired Grady Little and Terry Francona to lead their team. Having such a well-known and large personality in charge of the team has its advantages and it's drawbacks (Bobby Valentine is a smart baseball guy but his personality could certainly clash not only with the players but with the Boston sports media) but if history tells us anything, his becoming Terry Francona's successor seems more the figment of the media's imagination than anything resembling reality.
The baseball off-season moves quickly. Truck Day is a little less than three months away and the Red Sox are still without a leader. While it's not quite yet time to panic, that window is closing quickly and soon Red Sox Nation will be in full panic mode...and rightly so.
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