Source: Red Sox search down to 2

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The list of candidates for manager of the Boston Red Sox is indeed down to two, Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont, a team source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes on Monday.

Valentine said via text message on Tuesday morning that he had not yet received an offer from the Red Sox and that he was still not back from Japan, where he had appeared at a charity event Monday. He is scheduled to leave Japan at midnight ET Wednesday. Lamont said Tuesday afternoon he had not received an offer either.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has said he expects to have a new man in place by next Monday, when the winter meetings begin in Dallas, leaving just a short window for the team to decide on a manager and negotiate a deal.

A league source also confirmed to ESPNBoston.com's Joe McDonald that Torey Lovullo, who also interviewed for the manager's job, has been told he's out of the running.

One widely speculated scenario had Lovullo serving as bench coach for Lamont, but Lamont said Sunday that had not been discussed with him.

Both Valentine and Lamont have had two tours of duty managing in the big leagues. Valentine, 61, managed the Texas Rangers and New York Mets for a total of 15 seasons. Valentine's teams never won a division title, but in 2000 the Mets won the National League wild card and pennant before losing to the Yankees in the World Series.

Lamont, who turns 65 on Christmas Day, managed the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates for a total of eight seasons, four with each team. He won the American League West in 1993 and was named AL Manager of the Year that season.

Valentine won the Japan Series in 2005 with the Chiba Lotte Marines, a team that had not won the Series in 31 years. Valentine managed the Marines from 2004-09 before returning to the U.S., where he is currently serving as an analyst on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball."

Lamont has spent the last six seasons in Detroit as Jim Leyland's third-base coach for the Tigers. In 2001, he served in the same role for the Red Sox and Jimy Williams, who was fired in August that year.

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