Globe: Bobby Valentine Is 2012 Manager

Peter Abraham, Globe, 7:03 PM:

Robert John Valentine will be the 45th manager of the Boston Red Sox, the team selecting him within the last few hours.

No contract is in place. But Mike Lynch of Channel 5 is reporting that the Red Sox have a "verbal agreement" with Valentine to be their next manager.

Major league sources told Globe colleague Nick Cafardo just prior to that report that Valentine would be the next manager but a deal was not done.

Red Sox team sources, who have been fairly open about the process so far, would not comment on Lynch's report.