Saying a recent move by the Red Sox to ban alcohol in the clubhouse amounted to a public-relations strategy, former Boston manager Terry Francona asserted Monday that it likely won't change whether a player who wants a drink after a game will have one.

"I think it's a PR move," Francona, now an ESPN analyst, said on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" show. "I think if a guy wants a beer, he can probably get one. You know, it's kind of the old rule ... If your coach in football says no hard liquor on the plane -- I mean, you serve beer and wine -- somebody's going to sneak liquor on the plane.

"If you furnish a little bit, it almost keeps it to a minimum."

Francona managed the Red Sox for eight seasons, a tenure that ended after the team missed the postseason despite holding a nine-game wild-card lead in September.

"I don't think it's a surprise that they put this in effect, or the fact they announced it," Francona said of the alcohol ban. "It's probably more of a PR move just because, you know, the Red Sox [took] such a beating at the end of the year."

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine announced the new policy on Saturday, saying beer consumption would also be cut off on the last leg of road trips.

Valentine responded to Francona's take later Monday at spring training in Fort Myers, Fla.

"Remember, you're getting paid over there [at ESPN] for saying stuff,'' Valentine said. "You're getting paid over here for doing stuff.''

Later, in an informal conversation with a small group of reporters, Valentine said: "I think they probably asked [Francona] a question, that's what he said.

"If they had asked him longer, he probably would have said it was the right thing to do, too, but they probably dropped it at PR move, I would think. Either that, or those other 18 teams are getting it wrong, too. I don't think they did it just for PR.''