It's been a fun Tuesday for those of us trying to keep up with the Boston Red Sox's managerial search. First, a little background ... The Red Sox's search recently narrowed to Bobby Valentine, Gene Lamont and Torey Lovullo. Lovullo was subsequently ruled out, leaving just two candidates. Now, for Tuesday, we begin with Karl Ravech:

Sources say gene Lamont no longer a candidate to be red sox manager

That report was quickly shot down. Alex Speier:

Red Sox team source says report that Lamont is no longer being considered for manager is "not true."

And then that report was quickly shot down. Mike Lynch:

Red Sox and Bobby Valentine have reached a verbal agreement for him to be the next Sox manager.

I had a lot of words written about the first report, deleted out of frustration. Then I had a lot of words written about the second report, deleted out of frustration. Now you get these words. I hope that you're happy with these words, because you're not getting other words.

In case you read Lynch's tweet and figure that we're still in the rumor-and-sources stage of all this, he's supported by Gordon Edes:

Bobby Valentine will become 45th manager of the Red Sox, according to sources. He is expected here midafternoon Wednesday.

This is all looking very definitive. Edes' tweet cites "sources" and nothing is yet official, but it now seems all but official that Bobby Valentine will take over as the next manager of the Boston Red Sox.

Valentine's background? You're familiar with much of Valentine's background, I imagine. He managed the Rangers from 1985-1992. He managed the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1995. He managed the Mets from 1996-2002. He managed the Marines again from 2004-2009. He went to the World Series in 2000, and won a championship in Japan in 2005. He's recently worked for ESPN.

That's Bobby Valentine's background in a paragraph. As for his managerial tendencies, he's a mixed bag, and he's known for his strong personality that can be a positive or a negative, depending on the situation. It's hard to say how well Valentine will work out in Boston, and there's no way for anybody to know, but, ultimately, the likelihood is that the Red Sox finish with about the same record under Valentine as they would have under Lamont. Now Red Sox fans can put this managerial search behind them and start thinking about things that make a real, measurable difference.