OPINION:
The Washington Nationals will introduce the manager Thursday who they believe will deliver them the World Series championship they demand next year — Dave Martinez.
“We are delighted to bring Dave aboard and excited about what he will bring to our clubhouse and our dugout,” said Ted from Palm Springs on line three, formerly known as Theodore N. Lerner, managing principal owner of the Nationals in a statement released by the organization. “We have been very clear about our goals as an organization and we feel confident we’ve found the right man to help us reach them.”
Well, maybe not so clear.
When the Lerners decided not to bring back Dusty Baker, after two straight National League East division titles, team president and general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters, “Our expectations have grown to the fact that winning a lot of regular season games and winning divisions are not enough, Our goal is to win a World Championship.”
They gave Baker — a highly respected veteran manager with more than 1,800 career wins, a three-time manager of the year who had taken four different teams to the postseason — two chances to do that.
Based on Martinez’s deal — a three-year contract — l guess they will give a rookie manager three chances. We’ll see.
AUDIO: Former Major League Baseball player Jerry Hairston Jr. with Thom Loverro
From all accounts, Martinez is a good man and a good baseball mind. And he may wind up being the right manager for the Washington Nationals and reach the goals defined by the organization — World Series or bust, as former manager Davey Johnson would say.
But it’s hard to forget that when Rizzo introduces Martinez at a press conference Thursday at Nationals Park, he was Rizzo’s second choice.
Bringing back Baker was the first choice of the man in charge of the baseball operations for this organization.
Second choices can work out. Baker was a second choice, after the Lerners drove away the first choice, Bud Black, with a low ball laughable initial offer. Daniel Murphy was a second choice, after second baseman Brandon Phillips declined a trade to the Nationals.
But Martinez — Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon’s bench coach — was not the first choice when he interviewed for managing jobs with the Cubs, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers and yes, the Nationals, passed over in 2013 when Rizzo hired another rookie manager instead, Matt Williams.
In fact, Martinez was passed over as manager by the organization that knew him the best — Tampa Bay., where he had been one of the original players on the inaugural 1998 team and was bench coach with Maddon there starting in 2008. He didn’t even make the final cut when the Rays, in 2014, hired Kevin Cash instead to replace Maddon, who left to take the Cubs position.
“The decision on Dave Martinez was especially difficult,” Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman said in a press release. “He’s played a key role in our organization’s evolution, and he’s done all he can to put himself in position to be a manager. In the end, we determined that our clubhouse would best benefit from a new voice that will add to our already strong and cohesive culture.”
None of this means that Martinez, finally given his shot here in Washington, isn’t the right choice. A number of those candidates selected over Martinez were fired. The Cubs choice over Martinez, Rick Renteria, was fired in 2014. The Indians hired Manny Acta instead of Martinez in 2010, and he was fired in 2012. The White Sox hired Robin Ventura in 2011 and he stepped down in 2016. The Astros hired Bo Porter in 2012 and fired him in 2014. The Nationals, of course, hired Matt Williams instead of Martinez in 2013 and fired Williams in 2015.
The Blue Jays hired John Farrell instead in 2010, who left two years later to take the managing job in Boston. Cash remains in Tampa Bay. And in Los Angeles in 2015, the Dodgers chose Dave Roberts over Martinez.
Maybe Washington is the right place at the right time for Martinez.
“I am excited to bring Dave into our family,” Rizzo said in the team press release. “As we went through this process it became clear the type of manager we were looking for — someone who is progressive, someone who can connect with and communicate well with our players, and someone who embraces the analytical side of the game. We came away from the process feeling like there was absolutely no one better suited — who matched up to what this organization needs right now — than Dave.”
Family members come, though, and family members go. And some are embraced longer than others.
For instance, while Martinez has a three-year deal, his boss, Rizzo, has a contract that is up at the end of 2018. That makes for a dysfunctional family — a manager who has more job security than his general manager.
That needs to change today, or tomorrow. If the Lerners want to start repairing their tattered reputation in the baseball industry, they need to announce at Thursday’s press conference that Rizzo has been given a well-deserved contract extension of at least the same length — three years — as Martinez’s deal.
It’s best for the family.
• Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes, Google Play and the reVolver podcast network.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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