Those rumors of Bobby Valentine perhaps returning to manage the Mets may have taken another hit.
Aside from the fact that Jerry Manuel is at least temporarily off the hot seat now that the Mets have won nine straight games at home- and four in a row overall – the Baltimore Sun reported today that industry sources have said that the former Mets manager will interview for the Orioles’ job. That interview could come as early as Thursday or Friday of next week.
Dave Trembley was fired last week and the situation has not improved under interim manager Juan Samuel, as Baltimore still has the worst record in baseball at 16-41. And while GM Andy MacPhail didn’t reveal a list to the paper, he did say that he was going through “sort of a vetting process.”
The paper also said that former Cleveland manager Eric Wedge could be a strong candidate.
Valentine, who managed the Mets to the World Series in 2000 and was fired in 2002, has expressed a desire to get back in the game. He most recently managed in Japan and is currently an ESPN analyst who has weighed in several times this season on the Mets’ managerial situation- never saying he wouldn’t be interested in getting his old job back.
But the Mets have played better of late and some of the heat that Manuel felt earlier this season has dissipated. For now.