The media tried to pry out of Dave Martinez how much he was going to get paid over his 3 year contract with the Washington Nationals, and they will not be getting that information from him.
Martinez told sports anchor Carol Maloney of WRC TV the 3 things he won’t discuss:
- Money
- Religion
- Politics
Smart man that Dave Martinez is and Forbes Magazine has their list of what you shouldn’t discuss in a professional setting.
LISTEN: Biggest takeaway from my Dave Martinez intv…. he is a very smart man. #Nats pic.twitter.com/wNyU4zweo7
— Carol Maloney (@carolmaloney4) November 2, 2017
Carol Maloney did one of the side session one-on-ones with Dave Martinez, and her takeaways that she told me was full of compliments about the Nats new manager:
“I think [Dave Martinez] knocked it out of the park,” Carol Maloney said about his press conference. “He admitted to me he was nervous at first but once he settled in he didn’t sound like a rookie manager. My biggest takeaway is that he’s super smart and quick on his feet. When I asked about the importance of getting 3 years on his contract, he said ‘it’s more important to the players’. Looking forward to working with him.”
Kelley Collis from 94.7’s Tommy Show liked that Dave Martinez chose #4 for his jersey number which was a good sign to her.
“Jersey #12 may be [co-host Jen Richer’s] lucky number but #4 is mine — always has been,” Kelly Collis said. “Excited to a have fresh face for the team and looking forward to seeing [Davey] connect with the team in the off-season.”
Chris Lingebach of 106.7 The Fan radio had the perfect vantage point for the Dave Martinez press conference. The new Nats skipper said at one point “We’re here to win the World Series” and then there was an awkward moment of silence before applause started. For those watching the press conference on the MASN streaming app or on their television, they did not see what Lingebach saw. Here’s what he told me:
“I can’t speak for others,” Lingebach said. “But for me, it was one of those pauses that felt way longer than it actually was. In reality, there was probably a two-second pause after Martinez said ‘We’re here to win the World Series.’ But it felt like real, deafening silence. And I look over and see Mr. Ted Lerner in the front row put his hands together in applause. He didn’t seem to care he was the only one clapping. A second later, the rest of the family joins in.”
And from there, “World Series and Trust” was a thing on TalkNats.
“Well, judging from the mocking tone of my Twitter mentions, there’s heavy degree of ‘What’s the guy supposed to say?’ out there,” Lingebach said. “It is what it is. Maybe I’m putting too much focus on it because Rizzo made such a point to stress ‘World Series is the goal’ when announcing the Dusty decision. Just look at the contracts coming off their books after 2018. There’s definitely a palpable sense of urgency.”
We all remember the Davey Johnson “World Series or Bust” proclamation.
“Davey Johnson was trying to arm a young Nationals club with his brand of machismo,” Lingebach continued. “Unfortunately, they may have been a little too young to receive it the right way. I can recall Gio Gonzalez coming out, either the season after or in 2015, saying it was unfair to put that kind of pressure on the team. Maybe that says a bit more about Gio than the rest of the club, but the core Nats should be able to handle that kind of pressure by now. They’ve been through the wringer. They just have to… break through. We’ll see if Martinez is the right guy, but if this is really the Dave Roberts model, I’d foresee Rizzo and the analytics department having a strong influence on daily lineup decisions. No more Ryan Raburn batting second.”
So far the only official hire onto Dave Martinez’s coaching staff has been Kevin Long, however we have heard that Bob Henley could return to the coaching staff.
“Martinez is a great hire,” Holden Kushner of MLB Tune-in radio said. “[Kevin] Long helped Murphy work on [launch] angle and exit velo. Progressive thinkers.”
The consensus of opinions is that Kevin Long was a great hire. Davey Martinez still needs to find his pitching coach and bench coach to finish up the main pieces of his coaching staff.
“You have fun in Spring Training,” Max Scherzer said that is when he will get to know his new manager Davey Martinez. “That’s the best time to really get to know each other — best relaxed atmosphere. You really don’t know how anything is going until August. That’s the month of the year when you’re out of the parade — it’s the dog days and everyone hates each other. That’s when you really find out when you like somebody.”
Maybe the three year contract for Davey Martinez will take some of the pressure off of the players as they go for the team’s fifth division title in seven years and their third NL East division title in a row — third time we hope is the charm.
