Gonzalez, Valentine respond to report

BALTIMORE -- Speaking to WEEI.com prior to the Red Sox' game against the Orioles Tuesday night, Adrian Gonzalez confirmed the July 26 meeting written about in a Yahoo! Sports story, and explained the purpose of the get-together.

"They had a meeting with the players, they had a meeting with the coaches and they had a meeting with Bobby and it was to assess where we were as a team and as an organization and why we were where we were, and what our thoughts were, basically," Gonzalez said.

When asked if he felt the meeting -- which was described in the story as "heated," in which players reportedly "blasted" manager Bobby Valentine to ownership -- was productive, Gonzalez offered a quick response.

"We still haven't played well since then," the first baseman said.

The report stated that Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia "were among the most vocal in the meeting, in which some players stated flatly they no longer wanted to play for Valentine."

Both Gonzalez and Valentine said they hadn't read the report, although the player did say he had heard about it prior to making his comment.

"Wow. Is that what was said, really? That's what Dustin and Adrian said? It did say that? I didn't hear that," Valentine told reporters. "I'm glad that July is over, because they're still playing for me."

Valentine later added, "I’m not going to comment on any stories because I don’t know what issues you might be referring to. Adrian’s issues? Dustin and I had a talk about a meeting I had. I don’t know if that was July.”

To read the Yahoo! Sports report, click here. [1] For more Red Sox news, go to the team page at weei.com/redsox [2].