Photo by the AP
The Washington Nationals are set to name their 7th full-time manager this week, and it should not be a surprise to anyone that Dave Martinez will be that person. Martinez interviewed for the job back in 2013 after Davey Johnson‘s contract was not extended. The much needed next step with Martinez is putting pen on paper to make this official. In a divergence from the previous managerial deals, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that this will be a 3-year deal with a 4th year option.
What was an encouraging sign we learned from a source was that Dave Martinez was the unanimous choice of Mike Rizzo and the ownership group which made the process easy. To be prudent, the group did interview other candidates. We have not received a final list of all the candidates who were interviewed.
The first media member stating this deal was done was Jon Heyman Brody Logan of Fox 5 DC, however, a few D.C. beat writers warned the deal was not done.
Per @JonHeyman, Davey Martinez to be named next #Nationals manager:https://t.co/sMUq5JvtBW
— FRS Baseball (@FRS_Baseball) October 29, 2017
Martinez is a finalist. There doesn’t seem to be another finalist. But no deal is done. https://t.co/CDhiS20bXI
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 29, 2017
As is sometimes the case, the information is based on the source(s) you talk to and shortly afterwards, Chelsea Janes got her confirmation.
BREAKING: Nationals have finalized deal with Davey Martinez. Three years and an option, according to a person familiar with the situation.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 29, 2017
Now the new controversy (joking) is what we call Martinez — Davey or Dave? We will wait for that answer as well as the contractual details and the formation of Martinez’s coaching staff.
“Dave Martinez is a guy I got to know a little bit when he was with Maddon in Tampa Bay,” Holden Kushner of MLB Tune-In Radio told us. “Intelligent, relatable and overdue for a job.”
Martinez is well thought of in baseball. He is the father of four children with his wife Lisa, and they have been baseball lifers. Dave met Lisa at the beginning of his pro career in the Cubs organization back in the 1980’s. Martinez also played for the Montreal Expos along the way and Martinez just turned 53-years-old and was one of the original Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was credited for the first base hit in their history. When he went into coaching, he took the bench coach job with Tampa Bay before moving with Joe Maddon to take the same position with the Chicago Cubs. Martinez has been to the World Series twice with the win last year with the Cubs.
Joe Maddon just fired three of his coaches including his pitching and hitting coach and retained Martinez on his staff. Maddon has been fair and has never wanted to stifle Martinez’s ascent to a manager’s position and has done plenty of campaigning for him. This time it seems to have worked!
“[Dave Martinez] really understands all the numbers that are out there. He understands people and tough conversations. He’s really good at tough conversations,” Joe Maddon said. “He’s very straight up, straightforward, and up-front. I think that’s really vital. You have to have those ‘Godfather’ days, man, when sometimes you’ve just got to be blunt and honest with somebody in order to get your point across. He’s got all that.”
After the Nationals started their interview process, the New York Yankees and Joe Girardi parted ways. From one of our sources, Joe Girardi plans on taking some time-off and will not immediately enter back into managing a team. There was no confirmation on whether Girardi and Mike Rizzo communicated.
The Nationals will have a press conference with Dave Martinez after the World Series.
