Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine spoke on Thursday about the team's recent acquisition of reliever Mark Melancon and closer Andrew Bailey. "The deals were in the hands of Ben [Cherington] and his baseball department and I think they've done a heck of a job of being patient, of being diligent, knowing what they want and going after it," Valentine said. "These two guys begin to fill a very big void that it seemed like we had after (Jonathan) Papelbon left and (Daniel) Bard was given an opportunity to go into the starting staff, along with (Alfredo) Aceves, and all of a sudden we went from the cupboard being bare to a cupboard that's plentiful, and we're all excited about." Valentine and Bailey know each other well off the field as both reside in Connecticut. Bailey and former Oakland teammate Craig Breslow, who is a native of Connecticut, formed the Strike 3 Foundation, which raises money for pediatric cancer research, and Valentine was the emcee for its annual event the past two years. "I see him off the field act the way you would want a major leaguer, or for that matter a son or father to act," Valentine said. "He really is an upstanding young man and when I watched him on video, or I watched him on television during his career, I've been extremely impressed with his competitiveness and his ability to get both right- and left-handed hitters out. Hopefully, like he said, he's going to be healthy as this year comes on, and if he is, he's going to be a big plus to the Boston Red Sox."