According to a team source, the Red Sox owners met with Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont earlier this week. He and ESPN broadcaster Bobby Valentine are the two managerial candidates who have met with team owners in the second round of the interview process. As of now, the source said, there are no plans to conduct further interviews (either with Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo or with another candidate), though as the late emergence of Valentine in the process suggests, such a possibility cannot be dismissed entirely.

The team has yet to make a decision. However, with the field narrowed significantly, the team seems likely to announce a hiring next week, prior to the start of the winter meetings.

Lamont, the 1993 AL Manager of the Year with the White Sox, has a 553-562 record as a manager in parts of eight seasons with the White Sox (1992-95) and Pirates (1997-2000). The 64-year-old spent a year as the third base coach of the Red Sox in 2001, and has been on the staff of Tigers manager Jim Leyland for the last six years.

Valentine, 61, has managed for parts of 15 big league seasons, spending eight years with the Rangers (1985-92) and seven with the Mets (1996-2002). He has a 1,117-1,072 record, and reached the World Series with the Mets in 2000.

Lamont and Valentine were the only two of the six candidates whom the Sox asked to take part in their full interview process who had prior full-time managerial experience.