Bobby Valentine Isn’t in Danger of Being Fired, Team Owner Says

Manager Bobby Valentine‘s future with the Boston Red Sox was put into question on Monday when reports surfaced that team owner John Henry and general manager Ben Cherington flew out to Seattle where the Red Sox will be playing this afternoon to meet with Valentine to discuss the state of the Red Sox and the manager’s future with the team.

The trip certainly sounded suspicious, but Henry said in an email to ESPNBoston that there isn’t anything up with his trip to Seattle. “No!” Henry said in response to questions that he made the trip to fire Valentine after an all-around disappointing season for the Red Sox.

“Nothing going on other than a bad losing streak,” Cherington wrote in another email to ESPN.

Henry says that his trip to Seattle is to get a “pulse” of the Red Sox team. He went on to say that Red Sox ownership was “resolute” that Valentine will finish out the rest of the season.

The Boston Herald reports:

“Henry had a good breakfast with Valentine, he said. Henry is in the clubhouse now and plans to meet with as many players as he can before leaving Seattle later this afternoon. He was seen chatting with second baseman Dustin Pedroia [stats] in the dugout prior to the game.”

In response to all of the talk that Valentine’s career was in jeopardy, the manager issued a playfully sarcastic “sorry” to those disappointed by the confirmation that he was not, in fact, going to be fired.

“To any of you that are sorry I didn’t get fired, I’m sorry that you’re sorry,” he said.