By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

Not that this will come as any sort of stunning news, but Ben Cherington has kinda, sorta said Bobby Valentine will be getting fired.

At the end of an otherwise innocuous interview on WEEI this morning, the general manager was asked about the timing of a managerial change.

"I'd always rather get the decision right than rush it," Cherington said. "But what we know we need to do is hit the ground running this offseason. One of the things that, as I look back on last offseason, that didn't go perfectly was simply the amount of time that we spent on the manager search and what that did to the rest of the offseason and I would like to spend less time on it this offseason, that's for sure."

The season ends Wednesday in New York. By Thursday afternoon, that search could be underway.

UPDATE, 3 p.m.: Here's what Cherington when he spoke to the Globe's Mike Vega:

"I honestly meant it very literally, like we would like to spend less time on it. That could mean one day, that could mean no days. In my mind, it was nothing to do with Bobby or a decision about him, but I guess people are taking it the wrong way and if I need to clarify it, I’ll clarify it.

"The only thing I can clarify is to tell you that I meant it in the most literal sense possible. We’d like to focus less of our offseason on who the manger is. I don’t think that has anything to do with Bobby Valentine. It has to do with how we’re allocating our time."