Buster Olney's blog post this morning lists some possible destinations for Bobby Valentine. Houston isn't one of them.
The possibilities?
Cleveland (who want to have their manager hired by the end of the World Series): The hiring of Valentine would be something very different, given his history of success and his personality and energy level, and in many respects, he and general manager Mark Shapiro would be a perfect fit: They are both problem-solvers at heart, which is what you need to be to engender success in a small market.
Washington: Valentine would be a suitable caretaker for a team that is easily the worst in the major leagues, at the ground floor of general manager Mike Rizzo's reconstruction -- and Rizzo is building a foundation that must, out of necessity, be built on pitching.
Florida: And if you just assume Loria is a status-quo type of guy, don't forget he fired Joe Girardi after one season in which Girardi was named manager of the year.
Toronto: If, in fact, Beeston agrees with the players that Gaston has become an untenable managerial option for the Jays, Valentine might emerge as a candidate for a franchise that will be seeking ways to reinvent itself and sell itself, while sharing a division with two big-money monsters, the Yankees and Red Sox.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
