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Bobby Valentine’s Comments About David Ortiz Shocking, Especially Given Veteran’s Leadership and Support (Podcast)

The Red Sox were busy introducing the new man in charge on Tuesday. Meanwhile, John Farrell's predecessor was making headlines of his own.

Shortly after the Sox introduced Farrell as the team's new manager, former Boston skipper Bobby Valentine sat down with NBC Sports Network's Bob Costas for his first interview since leaving the club earlier this month. Most of what Valentine said was rather tame, but one comment in particular stood out, mostly because it goes against what we've come to know about David Ortiz.

"David Ortiz came back after spending about six weeks on the disabled list after we thought it would be just a week," Valentine said. "He got a couple of hits his first two times up, drove in a couple of runs, we were off to the races, and then he realized that this trade meant we were not going to run this race and not even finish this race properly. He decided not to play anymore. I think at that time it was all downhill from there."

While it isn't the most direct shot at Ortiz, it's apparent Valentine was taking a little jab at the eight-time All-Star. And that's shocking, especially when you consider how much Ortiz defended Valentine this past season and how much leadership the slugger has shown throughout his Red Sox career.

MLB writer Didier Morais caught up with assistant editor Ricky Doyle to discuss Valentine's surprising comments and whether or not that means teams looking for a new manager might write Valentine off going forward. Morais and Doyle also discussed the Farrell hiring, the outlook of the AL East and the looming Tigers-Giants World Series matchup.

Have a listen to the baseball conversation in the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes to download it there.