Red Sox fire Valentine

THE BOSTON Red Sox thought Bobby Valentine would restore order to a coddled clubhouse that disintegrated during the 2011 pennant race. Instead, he only caused more problems.

The brash and supremely confident manager was fired on Thursday, the day after the finale of a season beset with internal sniping and far too many losses. Valentine went 69-93 in his only year in Boston, the ballclub's worst in almost 50 years.

"I understand this decision," Valentine said in a statement released by the team. "This year in Boston has been an incredible experience for me, but I am as disappointed in the results as are ownership and the great fans of Red Sox Nation . . . I'm sure next year will be a turnaround year."

A baseball savant who won the NL pennant with the New York Mets and won it all in Japan, Valentine was brought in after two-time World Series champion Terry Francona lost control of the clubhouse during an unprecedented September collapse.

But the players who took advantage of Francona's hands-off approach to gorge on fried chicken and beer during games bristled at Valentine's abrasive style.

More importantly, they didn't win for him, either.

"We felt it was the right decision for that team at that time," general manager Ben Cherington said Thursday in an interview at Fenway Park. "It hasn't worked out, because the season has been a great disappointment. That's not on Bobby Valentine; that's on all of us. We felt that in order to move forward and have a fresh start, we need to start anew in the manager's office."

Under Valentine, the Red Sox started 4-10 and didn't break .500 until after Memorial Day.

"We have gratitude for him, respect for him and affection for him, and we're not going to get into what his inabilities were, what his issues were," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said. "I just don't think it's fair."

Cherington, who replaced Theo Epstein last offseason, will lead the search for a new manager. The team's top target is current Toronto manager and former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, who has a year left on his deal with the Blue Jays.

What was supposed to be a season of celebration for Fenway's 100th anniversary was instead the worst under the current management, which bought the team in 2002. And though injuries probably doomed the Red Sox anyway - they used a franchise record 56 players - Valentine's clumsy handling of his players forced him into frequent apologies that undermined his authority in the clubhouse.

The Minnesota Twins fired five coaches and their head athletic trainer in the wake of a second straight last-place finish in the AL Central. Longtime bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek, bench coach Scott Ullger, third base coach Steve Liddle, first base coach Jerry White, hitting coach Joe Vavra and head athletic trainer Rick McWane did not have their contracts renewed for 2013.

* Sandy Alomar Jr., who guided Cleveland in its final six games after Manny Acta was fired last week, interviewed to become the Indians' next full-time manager. Alomar and former Phillies and Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who will interview with the club on Friday, head the list of possible replacements for Acta.

* The Seattle Mariners will not retain hitting coach Chris Chambliss after another season during which their offense was among the worst in baseball. The rest of Seattle's coaching staff will return next season.