OPINION:
Nothing like an 11-game losing streak to remind people there’s a baseball team in Washington — especially losses at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, the worst team east or west of the Mississippi. People tend to notice that.
Actually, Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez may have woken everyone up last week when he lost the firm grip he often has to explain away his team’s misery.
Responding to a question about losses and responsibilities in the postgame press conference after a 4-3 loss to the cellar-dwelling Miami Marlins, Martinez strongly defended his coaching staff.
“It’s never on coaching,” he told reporters. “Never on coaching. Coaches work their asses off every single day. We’re not going to finger point here and say it’s [on the] coaches. It’s never on the coaches. They work hard. The message is clear. All the work is done prior. Sometimes [the players] got to go out there and they got to play the game. It’s always been about the players.
“Always. I played this game a long time,” Martinez said. “Never once have I blamed a coach for anything. [As players], we worked our asses off to get better. They gave us information, and we used it. These guys understand what the game is.”
Martinez was a coach for 10 years in Tampa Bay and Chicago before he was hired to manage Washington in 2018, so you can understand why he is a little sensitive to the notion that coaches may be to blame for his team’s woes. He’s typically sensitive to blaming anyone, never hanging a player out to dry. That’s not easy to do when you have had to explain 613 losses over eight seasons.
This was one of those nights that got away from him. His boss, general manager Mike Rizzo, recognizes that.
“Davey is as player friendly a manager as I’ve ever had,” Rizzo told 106.7 The Fan. “He and Dusty Baker to me run the clubhouse like no one I ever had in my career. So when you talk about one of the players’ managers, Davey is one of them. This guy does 500, 600 interviews a year. He does two a day, pregame, postgame, every time. And he’s flawless.
“We were six or seven or eight in a row at that time and got caught in a frustrating moment and kind of lashed out,” Rizzo said. “And I think it was out of frustration.”
At least Martinez is getting paid to watch this team lose. The paying customers – a dwindling club – are frustrated as well and have no problem blaming someone.
Like Rizzo said, the manager is right there, pre- and postgame every day and night, and will always bear the brunt.
It’s the easiest target, the manager, followed by the general manager who has overseen this lengthy rebuild. People in those jobs get fired all the time.
The answer, though, in Washington is unfortunately more frustrating.
Owners can’t get fired. Washington sports fans know more than anyone that owners can’t get fired. They have to radically self-destruct.
That’s what Martinez got wrong. It’s not the coaches. It’s not the players. It’s the Lerner family. I know it’s a familiar refrain, but the lack of commitment by ownership to field a competitive team remains the issue.
Nationals owner Mark Lerner boldly claimed in an interview at the end of the 2023 season that ownership was committed to giving Rizzo whatever he needed.
“We are totally in on building this back to where we all expect it to be, to where our fans expect it to be,” Lerner said in a “Nats Xtra” interview. “It’s (Rizzo) his call how he wants to fill the holes in the lineup. He comes to me when he is ready, whether it’s a player or a free agent or whatever. Whatever he desires, he has the resources and he has always had the resources since the day we took over the team to build a winner.”
This was a lie. There is no other way to describe it.
The front office sought to put a more competitive team out on the field for the past two seasons with free agents to help the core of young players like James Wood and C.J. Abrams grow, without putting the whole burden on players just learning how to become major leaguers.
I’m not talking about Jayson Werth’s seven-year $126 million commitment.
I’m talking about filling in the gaps with proven veterans at mid-range salaries and shorter contract commitments. When the owners turned down the front office’s attempts this winter to do just that, Rizzo was forced to make a trade for a first base bat when he acquired Nathaniel Lowe from the Texas Rangers. But to do that, Washington had to give up its best relief pitcher not named Kyle Finnegan – Robert Garcia, who has had a strong season with the Rangers. They could use him this year in the Washington bullpen.
This is not up for debate. Do the math.
The Lerners spent $60 million in 2023 and 2024 and $65 million this season on the active roster that takes the field – a total of $185 million over three years. That doesn’t include dead salary money, like Stephen Strasburg’s $32.8 million paycheck this season (another $35 million due next year, the final payment), and other salaries and deferred payments. But those are the numbers the Lerners have spent to compete.
Their National League East rivals? Let’s not even talk about the New York Mets and Steve Cohen’s deep pockets.
What about the Philadelphia Phillies? Over that three-year stretch — $662 million on their active roster. The Atlanta Braves put out $488 million on their active roster over that time.
You’ve heard many tears shed about the Nationals being handcuffed by the MASN deal and the Baltimore Orioles. It’s never good to have your television rights owned by another team.
But sources said the Lerners got $70 million from MASN in 2023 – the year their active payroll was only $60 million. And the five-year period from 2017 to 2022, Washington got $300 million in MASN money, sources said.
Meanwhile, the team remains without a stadium naming rights deal or a jersey patch sponsorship – both worth millions.
Rizzo told you all you need to know in his 106.7 The Fan appearance this week. “When we get to the time when we’re ready to win, hopefully we will invest in the roster and make some moves to put us over the top,” he said.
Hopefully.
• Catch Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
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