Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said at manager Bobby Valentine‘s introductory press conference that Valentine was his choice, and not just that of ownership or anybody else working above him.

When the Red Sox did not offer candidate Dale Sveum the job after he interviewed with the team for a second time, rumors swirled that Cherington did get to ultimately make the decision.

“It’s just not true,” Cherington said of whether president Larry Lucchino or somebody in ownership made the decision. “We went through a very thorough process. We talked to a lot of candidates, we did a lot of research on a lot of candidates. At the end of the process, I made a recommendation to ownership, I believe it was sometime on Monday, that we offer the position to Bobby, and we did sometime Monday or Tuesday morning, then he accepted it.

“That’s the truth,” he added. “It was a collaborative process. Ownership, as they as they absolutely should, was involved in the discussion about all the candidates.”

New Cubs manager Dale Sveum (center) is introduced by Cubs GM Jed Hoyer (left) and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein (right). (AP)

Dale Sveum had to contemplate a fascinating choice.

As he zoomed to the top of the early stages of the managerial search process with both the Cubs and Red Sox, there were all kinds of hypotheticals to consider, ultimately boiling down to this: Which team would he rather join?

It was a scenario that he was faced with in Milwaukee this week. The Red Sox flew him out to meet with team owners at the GM/owners’ meetings, making Sveum the first (and, to this point, only) second-round interview candidate. While there, he also met with top Cubs officials as a second-round candidate for their position.

Sveum acknowledged that he anticipated that the Red Sox would offer him their job.

“I sensed it. It was getting to that point. I had the second interview and I met with the owners, so you sensed it, but it never happened,” Sveum told reporters in Chicago. “The Cubs offered me the job and it was irrelevant at that point.”

Indeed, as challenging as it was to imagine that decision, Sveum gave the impression that, even had the Sox made an offer (which, of course, they did not), he might have been inclined to choose the Cubs. Read the rest of this entry »

MILWAUKEE — Brewers hitting coach Dale Sveum is scheduled to take part in a second-round interview on Wednesday that is expected to include principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and CEO/President Larry Lucchino as well as GM Ben Cherington. Beyond that, Cherington said, he expects that the Sox will have at least one other finalist meet with team officials for a second-round interview.

That other candidate may or may not meet with team officials in Milwaukee, but Cherington said that it would be unexpected if the Sox didn’t bring back at least one additional candidate beyond Sveum from the group of interviewees Pete Mackanin (the Phillies bench coach), Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr., Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo and Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont.

“I don’t envision a scenario where there wouldn’t be at least one other candidate discussed,” said Cherington. “I can’t rule anything out. But I would expect that there would be at least one other candidate discussed after the first round.”

Sveum also reportedly will meet with the Cubs for a second-round interview. That, in turn, suggests that the Sox and Cubs could end up pursuing the same candidate, though Cherington was also careful to point out that the ideal fit for Chicago might not be the best candidate for the Red Sox job.

“We don’t have the field to ourselves so that is a factor and it affects timing more than anything,” said Cherington. “I do think that the jobs are different and the same person is not necessarily the right fit for both jobs.”

While Cherington and the Sox did not interview bench coach DeMarlo Hale (or any other member of the Red Sox organization) as part of the search for Boston’s next manager, the Sox GM expressed enthusiasm for the fact that Hale was interviewed by Chicago as part of their search.

“Very happy for him if he’s getting that consideration,” said Cherington. “As I think DeMarlo understands, we think really highly of him and would love to have him back in the organization. Because of the way that the season ended, it was going to be a difficult fit for him in the manager’s role for 2012 with the Red Sox. But he’s a very capable guy, think very highly of him, so we’re very happy for him to get that opportunity.”

In one other housekeeping matter between the Sox and Cubs, Cherington said that the two teams discussed the matter of compensation for Theo Epstein on Tuesday, and planned to continue conversations related to the matter on Tuesday night. Cherington acknowledged that he has been involved in few deals that have taken so long to consummate. He suggested that the trade for Adrian Gonzalez last offseason consumed fewer days on the calendar, though he also noted that at least one deal in which he’s participated in negotiating — the deal sending Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez and two other pitchers to the Marlins in exchange for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota in 2005 — took longer than the compensation negotiation for his former boss.

White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who had to negotiate compensation with the Marlins for the departure of manager Ozzie Guillen, took some amusement in the matter.

“I was impressed,” said Williams. “This is a testimony, I think, to Theo and his skill level. It is one thing to trade a manager. But to trade yourself and then to work out the compensation for yourself, that’s one hell of a trip. I’m impressed. … Even though he hasn’t gotten it done, I don’t know how that conversation goes. I have to ask [Cherington] how that conversation goes.

“‘There’s no way I’m going to give you that for me,’” Williams surmised Epstein saying. “‘Who do you think I am? I’m not worth that.’”

Williams, the architect of the 2005 World Series winner, was asked what his value would be on the trade market.

“Probably a lot less than it’s taking, evidently, to get Theo,” said Williams. “There’s probably some White Sox fans who would probably want to give me away. It’s true.”

Curt Schilling

Former Red Sox pitcher and current ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst Curt Schilling appeared on Planet Mikey to speculate on the Red Sox manager search and share his thoughts on the prospect of former teammate and coach Dale Sveum getting the managing job in Boston.

“I don;t know the other candidates,” Schilling said. “I just know that Sveum is a guy … he will manage in the big leagues someday. He will get a multi-year big league job at some point because he has that kind of presence and he’s a smart, smart guy.”

Schilling played with Sveum in 1992, when Schilling was beginning to break out in Philadelphia and Sveum was a reserve player in the twilight of his career for the Phillies. Sveum worked as the third base coach for the Red Sox in 2004-05, when Schilling was an ace for Boston in the last years of his career.

Schilling said that Sveum would be a great fit as the Red Sox new manager because of his experience in Boston and his personality.

“He’s not a guy that wants to be out in front and wants people to understand that his team won because of his managing job,” Schilling said. “He’s a guy that goes about his job quietly and does his job professionally. … The players that played around him respected him, and he got more out of his teammates as a bench player and a reserve guy. There are not a lot of guys that can do that.”

Following are more highlights of the conversation. To listen to the interview, go to the Planet Mikey audio on demand page. Read the rest of this entry »