Major League Baseball

BoSox finalists: Valentine, Lamont

Published Nov. 26, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Boston Red Sox have narrowed their managerial search to two candidates — Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont.

The team is expected to announce Valentine or Lamont as its next manager within the next week, a major league source confirmed to FOXSports.com.

The organization has spent nearly two months looking for the successor to Terry Francona, who won two World Series titles in eight years.

Valentine, currently an ESPN analyst, has managed in the major leagues for 15 seasons, most recently with the New York Mets in 2002. Lamont, the third-base coach with the Detroit Tigers, managed the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates for four seasons each.

The Red Sox attempted to engage the Toronto Blue Jays in discussions about acquiring Toronto manager John Farrell, who has two years left on his contract, but those talks failed to progress.

Baseball saw one managerial “trade” this offseason, with Ozzie Guillen going from the White Sox to the Miami Marlins in exchange for two minor leaguers.

The Red Sox previously interviewed Philadelphia bench coach Pete Mackanin, Cleveland bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and Toronto first-base coach Torey Lovullo, but they no longer are under consideration.

Dale Sveum met with Red Sox officials multiple times before accepting an offer to manage the Chicago Cubs.