Trump Considering Former Mets, Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine for Ambassador to Japan: Report

The former Mets and Red Sox manager has connections to Trump and his transition team, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

What to Know

  • President-elect Donald Trump has allegedly placed Bobby Valentine on a short-list of candidates for the job of U.S. Ambassador to Japan
  • The former Mets manager has known Trump since the early 1980s and is close with Anthony Scaramucci, a member of his transition team
  • He is friendly with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; the two attended the University of Southern California

Bobby Valentine could be saying sayonara to a career in athletics and hello to a stint in global politics.

The former Mets and Red Sox manager is on President-elect Donald Trump's short-list of candidates for United States Ambassador to Japan, WEEI reports

It isn't an outlandish choice for Trump, given the history between the gentlemen — the two have known each other since the early 1980s. Valentine is also close to Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Trump's Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee.

Scaramucci established a scholarship fund at Sacred Heart University in 2014, where the former major league manager is currently the executive director of intercollegiate athletics.

Valentine declined to comment when contacted by NBC 4 New York on Friday, saying that he "really can't talk about this."

His connections to Japan could make him a viable candidate for the job. He managed the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball for seven seasons, becoming the first U.S.-born manager to win the Japan Series in 2005. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could help the 66-year-old with his transition into politics: the two are friendly and both attended the University of Southern California.

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