HAPPY VALENTINE’S Day, everybody.

No, not Bobby Valentine’s Day. (He’s been gone for months.) It’s Valentine’s Day. It’s Feb. 14. Love is in the air — and, looking back at a winter’s worth of headlines in the Union Leader, it’s been a pretty good winter for your Boston Red Sox and the reclamation project headed by Meriden-bred general manager Ben Cherington.

“One and done: Sox fire Valentine” the big headline read on Oct. 6, ownership wasting almost no time in axing its manager after completing the franchise’s first losing season since 1997, and finishing last in the American League East. Sox Brass acknowledged it wasn’t entirely his fault, yet nobody could say he was an effective enough communicator to lead the rebuilding effort, so it was time to move on.

“Ross, Ortiz back in fold” read the bold print on Oct. 23, the Sox fortifying the middle of their order with a couple of familiar bats. Cody Ross was retained for three years and $24 million — a pact modeled after the deal Jason Kubel got from the Diamondbacks a year earlier — while David Ortiz finally got his two-year deal, parlaying the pains of his absence into two more seasons at $12.5 million per annum.

Then “Cora is Cherington’s choice” was scrawled across the top of the sports page on Nov. 4, a day after the Red Sox announced Marlins’ bench coach Joey Cora would be their new manager. In Cora, the club boasted adding a still-young former player who has seen scrutiny first-hand as Ozzie Guillen’s longtime lieutenant, and denied reports that Toronto’s demands for the release of John Farrell were unreasonably high.

“Hamilton re-signs with Texas,” the headline read on Nov. 18, the Red Sox’ half-hearted pursuit of outfielder Josh Hamilton never putting them in serious contention for his services. Given his injury history and his streakiness, Boston was — rightfully — unwilling to offer the 31-year-old a deal any longer than four years.

Then there was the news of Nov. 25, which was the biggest of their offseason: “Sox trade for Tulowitzki,” as Boston made a splash by acquiring Troy Tulowitzki from the Rockies after the star shortstop lost most of 2012 to injury. It cost them shortstop Jose Iglesias, outfielder Ryan Kalish and pitching prospect Matt Barnes, and they’ll pay him at least $144 million through 2021, though the Sox acquired a silver-slugging, gold-gloved, just-turned-28-years-old star who was a top-eight MVP candidate in each of the three seasons before last. In announcing the deal, Cherington also said shortstop prospect Xander Boegarts will be handed a first baseman’s mitt upon arrival to spring training.

“Cherington holds court,” was the headline on Dec. 4, after the first day of baseball’s winter meetings, when he set the stage for the rest of the offseason by saying the Sox were unlikely to add any other big contracts. This was the first indication that Boston was comfortable with letting Jacoby Ellsbury reach the final year of his team-controlled deal without signing a big-dollar extension.

“Sox trade Melancon,” was minor news on Dec. 15, except in that Mark Melancon’s return to the National League starting to settle Boston’s bullpen for 2013. With Alfredo Aceves already having not been tendered a contract, the pen projected to be Daniel Bard, Junichi Tazawa, Scott Atchison, Andrew Miller, Craig Breslow and closer Andrew Bailey, with one spot up for grabs in the spring.

“Floyd added to rotation mix,” made the paper on Jan. 4, after Boston added right-hander Gavin Floyd. Perpetually rumored to be a Red Sox target, the ex-White Sox starter came cheap — one year, $9 million — as he tried to restore his value after a disappointing and injury-riddled 2012, and Cherington said he’ll join Franklin Morales and Rubby de la Rosa as the lead candidates to fill the fifth starter slot behind Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront and John Lackey.

“Loney, Podsednik will be back,” read the headline on Jan. 15, after veterans James Loney and Scott Podsednik returned to Boston on one-year commitments after testing the market for months. Loney will platoon with Mauro Gomez at first base, while Podsednik was re-upped to be part of a rotation in left field — at least until Bryce Brentz or Jackie Bradley Jr. proves himself big-league ready later in the year.

Then “Cherington said Sox are set for spring training,” ran across the page on Jan. 28.

And that brought things to where they are now, with arrival in Fort Myers now just a few days away. On paper, the winter passed without a radical transformation of the group Valentine declared “the weakest roster we’ve ever had in September in the history of baseball” on Sept. 14.

But, don’t forget, the explosion actually came in August — when the Sox traded Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to the Dodgers for future considerations and financial flexibility. In order to protect the value of that deal, it was important Boston took a disciplined approach to this winter, didn’t spend for the sake of spending , and instead approached this offseason with the primary objective of getting the team back to a competitive level while paving a path to the future. And Cherington did that.

A lineup of Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Tulowitzki, Ortiz, Ross, Will Middlebrooks, Gomez/Loney, Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Ryan Lavarnway and Podsednik/Ryan Sweeney/Daniel Nava is good enough to contend for a playoff berth if Lester, Buchholz and Lackey all pitch like they’re supposed to, and Doubront makes any progress in his second full season as a starter. And by being disciplined, the Sox haven’t blocked the paths of players like Boegarts, Brentz, Bradley and young pitching in the years to come. In the end, that means those objectives were met.

So happy Valentine’s Day, everybody. Here’s hoping you can enjoy it even more, knowing a better baseball season is right around the corner.

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Dave D’Onofrio covers Boston sports for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is ddonof13@gmail.com. Twitter: @davedonofrio