Marlins, Valentine at an impasse

Bobby Valentine is producing drama before getting named Marlins manager, if he is named at all.

The team has informed the commissioner’s office that Valentine is out of the running to replace Fredi Gonzalez, according to a major-league source.

But others, including Valentine, offer a different view.

Valentine said on ESPN Sunday night that said he was still “in the process” with the Marlins. Another source with knowledge of his situation said he was “definitely in talks” with the team.

If Valentine indeed is out of the Marlins’ plans — a development first reported by SI.com — it would represent a stunning turnaround for a franchise that had seemingly every intention of hiring him.

Even the impasse between Valentine and the Marlins is generating conflicting accounts.

One source says the talks between the two sides broke down not over Valentine’s salary desires, but philosophical differences.

Others, however, suggest that the Marlins are engaged in an internal conflict, with owner Jeffrey Loria advocating Valentine’s hiring and club president David Samon — Loria’s stepson — opposing it.

The volatility of both Valentine and Loria creates at least the possibility of a reversal.

Interim manager Edwin Rodriguez, the first Puerto Rican-born manager, will remain manager for the Marlins’ series against the Mets in Puerto Rico.

The Marlins have interviewed both Rodriguez and Diamondbacks third-base coach Bo Porter for the position previously held by Fredi Gonzalez, who was fired last Wednesday.

Valentine, currently an ESPN analyst, had been the front-runner to replace Gonzalez, whom the Marlins fired last Wednesday.

SI.com reported Friday that Valentine had reached at least a tentative deal with the team. ESPN.com reported that the Marlins were expected to offer Valentine a four-year contract.

Loria and Valentine are longtime friends. The owner’s courtship of Valentine dates to the end of last season, when Loria nearly fired Gonzalez.

Rodriguez previously was the Marlins’ Triple A manager. Porter, before joining the Diamondbacks this season, spent the previous five years in the Marlins’ organization, serving as third base coach and outfield and baserunning instructor from 2007 to ’09.