Bobby Valentine managed in Japan. He knows President-elect Donald Trump and members of his transition team personally. So of course there is a report out that Valentine is a candidate to be nominated as the U.S. ambassador to Japan in a Trump administration.
Boston radio station WEEI reported Thursday night that the 66-year-old Valentine, the former Red Sox, Mets, Rangers (and Chiba Lotte Marines) skipper, is under consideration for the post.
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WEEI laid out some reasons why it's not a totally crazy idea:
— Valentine and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are "friendly," and both went to USC.
— Valentine knows Masayoshi Son, who owns the SoftBank Hawks, another Japanese team. Son is the guy who Trump said is going to invest $50 billion in the U.S. tech sector.
— Japan wants baseball to be part of the 2020 Summer Olympics in ... Tokyo.
— Valentine works closely with Linda McMahon (wife of Vince), who is Trump's choice to run the Small Business Administration. McMahon is on the board of Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, where Valentine is the athletic director.
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— One of Valentine's bosses with the Rangers, Tom Schieffer, was ambassador to Japan when Valentine managed there.
Bobby Valentine and Tom Schieffer at the Tokyo Dome in 2006. (Getty Images)
So it all adds up. Kind of. Sort of.
Valentine declined to comment when contacted by WEEI on Thursday.
Trump. Red Sox. Hmmm ... hey, maybe there's room for Curt Schilling in this administration, too.
