Bobby Valentine

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine joined The Big Show Wednesday afternoon to discuss his efforts to change how things are done in the organization and some of the challenges he’s faced along the way.

To listen to the interview, go to The Big Show audio on demand page.

Asked if he has backed off in his managerial approach, Valentine said, “I don’t know. Again its that idea of making adjustments. I’ve been advised. I’m not a dummy. I go through things with open eyes. I’m trying to figure out, and again, this is four months into a very trying situation and I’m trying to figure out what works best to get the results we need.”

As for whether he feels has control of his team, Valentine said, “As far as how high we wear out pants or any of that stuff, I don’t need those kinds of controls. I think we’re working on a situation, an organizational structure, a team structure that could be as functional as possible as we go forward, day by day.”

Valentine said it was his job to focus the team on the task at hand, but acknowledged that the scrutiny wears on the players.

“I think there is a lot of emotion flying around here these days,” Valentine said. “One of the things I was discussing with one of the players was that all of this noise is one of the reasons players don’t want to sign here, because they don’t have to deal with this in other markets. They don’t worry about the drama of the day. They can just go out and play baseball.”

As far as the players’ meeting reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Valentine said he was in the meeting with Ben Cherington and ownership prior to the players’ meeting, but wasn’t involved in the latter.

“I just thought this was the way the do things to be as candid as possible,” Valentine said. “I didn’t know that it was anything different than they way they’d always done things.”

Asked whether he thought the team currently had a productive climate for a winning atmosphere, Valentine responded, “I think it really needs fine tuning. Just like you said, they might have brought me in to adjust some of the culture that was existing.”

As for his efforts to change things, Valentine said it’s always tough but he’s turned to some familiar names for advice.

“I talked to Bill Belichick when he first came into the area and I talked to Doc Rivers. When you come in and there is a different culture and change is needed, it’s never easy,” Valentine said.