Report: Players sour on Valentine

Bobby Valentine hasn’t even been officially introduced yet, but there are already reports out of Boston that some Red Sox players aren’t happy about their new manager.

According to ESPN.com, a Red Sox official told at least one player at the beginning of the managerial search that they "weren't going to hire Bobby Valentine or someone like that."

On Wednesday, the Red Sox announced a 5:30 p.m. ET news conference for Thursday to officially announce Valentine as their new manager.

Also on Wednesday, ESPN’s Buster Olney cited sources as saying that "some Red Sox players have been upset" that Valentine had emerged as a candidate and have been "grumbling to each other, through texts and phone calls."

At the beginning of the search, Boston interviewed five candidates, but Valentine was not among them. It was only after the perceived front-runner—Dale Sveum—accepted the managerial job with the Chicago Cubs, did Valentine emerge as a candidate.

Adding to the intrigue is the suspicion that Valentine was not the preferred choice of new Red Sox GM Ben Cherrington.

When Valentine emerged from a formal interview with the Red Sox on Nov. 21, he revealed that Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino had arranged for him to meet with Cherington, after he and Lucchino had appeared together on a panel discussion in Hartford, Conn.

As an analyst Valentine has criticized some Red Sox players, including pitcher Josh Beckett.

During s Sunday night game in August against the Yankees, Valentine was critical of the time Beckett took between pitches.

"This is a 2-hour-and-40-minute game so far," Valentine said. "That's a half-hour added to this game of him standing around and us sitting around watching him do nothing."