Valentine: RF could be affecting Gonzalez

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine made his weekly appearance on The Big Show on Wednesday. Valentine was asked for his thoughts on ESPN's Buster Olney, who wrote earlier in the week that there was a  "toxic" atmosphere in the Red Sox clubhouse. Olney also told WEEI's Mut and Merloni on Wednesday that there was a level of "unhappiness" in the clubhouse that he has rarely seen in his 25 years covering the sport.

"The guy comes by the team one day. You show up one day and maybe you know everything," Valentine said sarcastically. "I'm not going to comment on articles that come out in the paper. It's just not my job. My job is to win games. … Again, that's pretty good. Guys are here every day from the first day of spring training covering this team and a guy comes in and it's the worst he's seen in 25 years. It's pretty good stuff, I'm not commenting on that. Pretty credible, too."

Adrian Gonzalez made his 18th start of the season in right field on Tuesday, failing to record a hit in three at-bats in the 7-5 Sox win over the Marlins. For the season Gonzalez has just five home runs through 67 games, and his .398 slugging percentage is 150 points lower than last season. Valentine was asked if everything involved with playing right field has affected Gonzalez's production at the plate.

"Yes, it could have," Valentine said. "We've talked about that and we thought about that and we keep trying to do what's best for the team. We hope that Adrian adjusts any way that he can. He's been a terrific guy on this team, to make that kind of adjustment and do what's right for the team. He's doing the right thing for the team even though he's not hitting the way he has in the past, though I'm sure he's going to."

To hear the interview, including Valentine's thoughts on when Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford could return, click on The Big Show audio on demand page [1]. For more Red Sox news visit weei.com/redsox [2].