GOLFING AND CLIMBING: New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine meets with slugger David Ortiz yesterday at Ortiz’s annual celebrity golf classic in the Domitican Republic. (AP)

One “great” manager has replaced another in Boston.

That is the view from across baseball’s biggest rivalry, as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman yesterday applauded Bobby Valentine’s hiring by the Red Sox.

“They had a great manager in Terry Francona, and obviously when they made the decision to change there, they just replaced him with someone who is a great manager in his own right,” Cashman said.

“Bobby will be all in with Boston. He knows how to manage. He knows how to do the Xs and Os. He will be more than prepared, as he always is — he’s one of the smartest people I’ve come across in this game in my short time.”

Valentine will be managing in the major leagues for the first time since 2002, when he was fired by the Mets. But Cashman said it won’t be strange seeing him in a different uniform.

“[Boston] is obviously a great opportunity for anybody, because you have a team that can win now and a manager that is experienced with media in big markets, so it seems like a perfect fit,” Cashman said.

Cashman spent the morning only blocks from the restaurant Valentine owns in Stamford, Conn., rappelling down a 22-story building in a practice run for tomorrow, when he will participate in the annual “Heights and Lights” celebration to welcome in the Christmas season.

The general manager wasn’t afraid to issue a challenge.

“Bobby is welcome to join me any time,” Cashman said. “Actually, I challenge him to join us next year. First week of December, Landmark building, be there, Bobby.

And Valentine accepted — Stamford is his hometown, after all.

“Anytime. Anywhere,” Valentine wrote in a text to The Associated Press.