For the detractors, are you just Dusty apologists? Do you honestly think his moves or lack thereof didn't contribute to the losses where it counted? Sure you want Werth's to make that catch, or Gio to get out of his jam, but Dusty is the one who put them out there. He didn't challenge the dead ball call. Players have to perform, but the manager needs to do everything he can to put the best team out there and move the pieces when it makes the most sense.
So I think these are two different questions. I am not excited about the hire because everyone tells me that this is the last year of a window. It seems silly to risk that on a guy that hasn’t managed one game of baseball at any level. Ever.
I’m a Dusty apologist, I guess. I think he did a good job with a wreck of a clubhouse and basically lost two coin flip game 5’s. Sure he made choices that could be second guessed, but every manager in the postseason has made decisions that could be viewed as bad. All of them.
And I honestly think the Dusty hate is at a level that is not deserved by what’s he’s actually done.
The whole pass ball thing is a perfect example.
From every account, Dusty and Wieters complained about the call and two umpires told them that the rules said they couldn’t challenge and it was a judgement call. And people are saying that it was a reason that Dusty should be fired because he didn’t take it to the third level of going for a “rule check” (which I have never ever actually seen done and no one mentioned for two weeks). This is a forum with at least two distinct threads devoted to individual crappy umpires, but everyone blamed Dusty for this. It’s absurd. I just wish people just admitted that they hate him and that even if the Nats has won the World Series they would have given him zero credit and attributed it to the players.
I think Martinez has the potential to be good. I really hope he is. But I don’t think hiring a guy who’s been passed over multiple times and has zero managing experience is the slam dunk no brainer people here say it is.
