Red Sox players “blasted Bobby Valentine to owners”

In news that will surprise absolutely no one, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports has some very juicy details about Red Sox players not loving their time with manager Bobby Valentine.

According to Passan players “blasted Valentine to owners John Henry and Larry Lucchino during a heated meeting called after a text message was sent by a group of frustrated players to the team and ownership in late July.”

Passan specifically cites Adrian Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia as having spoken up on behalf of teammates upset over Valentine leaving Jon Lester in to allow 11 runs on July 22.

And during a meeting at a New York hotel called by ownership Passan says “some players stated flatly they no longer wanted to play for Valentine.” That was nearly three weeks ago and obviously nothing has happened since then, at least publicly. In fact, Henry gave Valentine a vote of confidence just last week, saying a change will not be made this season and scoffing at the idea that the manager was to blame for the team’s sub-.500 record.

However, at this point Valentine’s odds of returning in 2013 are very much in question. Passan details a whole bunch of other alleged incidents throughout the season that paint the clubhouse as anything but thrilled with Valentine. General manager Ben Cherington confirmed that the meeting took place, calling it “productive” and “a forum for people to express whatever frustration needed to be expressed.”

Boston is 57-59 under Valentine, who hadn’t managed in MLB since 2002 with the Mets and took the job after serving as an ESPN television analyst. And dating back to the second half of last season under Terry Francona the Red Sox are 75-87 in their last 162 games.

For a whole lot more, read Passan’s full report.