When the Nationals hired Martinez before the 2018 season, he did not have many ties to the area. He also inherited a set of challenging circumstances. Baseball lifer Dusty Baker had departed after the Nationals lost to the Cubs in the 2017 NL Division Series. Anyone replacing him would be inheriting the implicit understanding that being a nice guy and leading the team on a playoff run were not enough to earn loyalty from the franchise. Martinez was stepping into a situation that most would enter with caution, with emotional walls built high, but he seemed determined to be himself from the start.

Source: Washington Post July 19, 2021 18:35 UTC