Since Bobby Valentine led the Chiba Lotte Marines to a title in Japan in 2005, his name has been associated with just about every major league managerial position that's come open. For the most part, that's only been because dreaming fans want to see Bobby V. coach their team. Now, though, he's back in the States and MLB teams are falling all over themselves to try and hire him. The thing is, the same thing is happening across the Pacific. Ken Rosenthal is reporting Sunday that the Yokohoma Bay Stars are trying to convince Valentine to go back to Japan for the 2010 season. He also reports that Valentine's not interested in going to Washington or Houston, though it's been reported elsewhere that he might be interested in Cleveland's vacant position. So while it does seem clear that Valentine's interested in managing somewhere in 2010, it's just not apparent where that might be.
Then again, just because there are only three jobs open right now doesn't mean that someone won't open a job up specifically for Valentine. The Marlins apparently entertained that idea last week and there are a lot of teams out there with worse managers than Fredi Gonzalez. Valentine isn't going to end up in a bad situation in the States (hence his disinterest in Houston and Washington) and with another Japanese team calling, it doesn't behoove a team like, say, the Mets to wait around, hoping that Valentine will be available next winter.
