ORLANDO, Fla. _ New Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez will travel Thursday from Orlando, Fla., to Washington, D.C., for the team's annual Winter Fest, where he'll meet many of his players for the first time.
One of Martinez's first missions will to greet All-Star slugger Bryce Harper, who is in the final year of his contract and has been speculated as destined to play in 2019 for the Chicago Cubs _ where Martinez last served as a bench coach for three seasons and started his playing career there.
"Can I lobby right now?" Martinez quipped when asked about pushing to keep Harper with the Nationals.
"Hey, I can't wait to work with him and I hope we get to work together for a lot of years. He's a tremendous player. Of course anybody would want him on their team, but as of right now, he's a Washington National, and I'm looking forward to him being at spring training and working together."
Martinez spoke once with Harper, albeit in a phone conversation.
"Awesome," Martinez said of the conversation. "I'm looking forward to working with him and everybody else. He's one of the best players in the game, no doubt. So he's really excited, and all these guys want to win."
