Well That Was Quick, ESPN's Valentine Could Be Heading Back To Japan

In ESPN's press release, when they hired Bobby Valentine, they stated that he will have a large role in 2010. Well today, that "larger role" for Valentine might be back in Japan with the Yokohama Bay Stars. According to Fox Sports, the former manager is already in talks to go back overseas....

The Yokohama Bay Stars of the Japanese Central League are making a "concentrated effort" to hire Valentine, according to a major-league source.

Valentine, 59, also is on the Cleveland Indians' short list of candidates who will receive interviews, sources say.

A planned meeting between Valentine and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria in Europe failed to materialize after ESPN.com reported the team's interest in Valentine.

The Marlins instead chose to retain Fredi Gonzalez rather than face a backlash of negative publicity for firing him after an 87-win season.

Valentine, currently working for ESPN, is not aggressively pursuing the Nationals' opening and is not believed to be a serious candidate for the Astros, sources say.

I guess that's the risk you run when you hire a former manager, but this does bring up an interesting PR angle that coaches are using now. Instead of toiling around at home, managers and coaches are almost to the point where they're using ESPN as a launching point. The perfect example of this will be when the Redskins hire Jon Gruden in the offseason, but it seems to be happening more and more lately.

Sources: Valentine could return to Japan as coach (Fox Sports)