Red Sox to make Valentine their guy

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox have picked Bobby Valentine to be their next manager and the sides were working to complete a contract, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. An announcement could come on Thursday.

"He's got it. I just spoke to him a little while ago," Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who managed Valentine in the minors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, said in a telephone interview with the AP.