How long of a leash do Davey Martinez and the staff have?
This question likely ties directly to the ownership situation, but it is a question the Nationals need to be asking themselves immediately.
The roster is not strong, everyone knows that, but the decision-making and player development at the Major League level are head-scratching to say the least. Davey Martinez has been the manager for nearly 6 full seasons and his only winning record is the 2019 World Series champion team, the same one that started 19-31. How long does the World Series win spare Martinez?
At some point, you have to start seeing results. If the Nationals lose over 100 games again, what reason is there to keep Martinez around other than he's a nice guy and the players like him? A nice guy doesn't necessarily make a good manager, especially when the staff he has assembled like Jim Hickey and Darnell Coles have seemingly done more harm than good. Coles in particular has led to multiple young players regressing offensively such as Luis Garcia and Keibert Ruiz with his emphasis on groundballs and making contact instead of launch angle and making quality contact.
Martinez has struggled in his tenure to make the tough decisions and there are plenty of tough decisions that need to be made during a rebuild. Is he really the guy to lead this team through it?