Martinez enjoying time at home, but pining for chance to get back to Nats Park

Nationals manager Davey Martinez is in the final year of a three-year deal that runs through the 2020 season. The contract, singed in October 2017, has a club option for 2021. Martinez was hired to replace Dusty Baker on a deal worth $2.8 million. The club option for 2021 is worth $1.2 million.

During a Zoom video conference call Friday, Martinez said here have been no official talks yet on a contract extension.

"Nothing, no. Right now, I'm pretty much self-isolated here," Martinez said from his home in Tennessee. "I just want to make sure that we are all healthy and we stay healthy and that somehow, someway there will be a 2020 season."

How is that self-isolation going right now during the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic?

Repairing fences, playing with a couple of brand-new puppies, mowing 110 acres. Typical day for a farmer in Tennessee.

Except this particular land owner in Tennessee is also the manager of the world champion Nationals.

And this spring is like no other for Martinez. He loves keeping busy on his 350-acre farm outside of Nashville, but cannot wait to be back on the green grass of Nationals Park if that means regular season games are underway. During the shutdown, he has plenty of time for baseball work through phone calls, Zoom video calls and emails.

"Obviously, we are all in unchartered waters," Martinez said. "For me, it's just communicating. Staying in communication with front office, with players, with coaches and just letting them know how the families are doing, (asking) how they're doing. Just keeping them in mind, making sure they are doing something to keep in shape and stay ready.

"The only thing that I can do right now is hope that everybody is safe, healthy and doing the things that they can do to prepare themselves to play again."

And with all this time on his hands, Martinez is keeping in good physical condition. His day begins with 40 minutes of recumbent bike training. He has got plenty of room to stretch out and move around on the sizable farm, but would trade the rolling hills of green grass in Tennessee for the diamond on South Capitol Street right now if he could.

"My days start off with my Peloton ride," Martinez said. "I live on 350 acres, so I do a lot of farm work. I spend a lot of the day out on the farm. In the course of a day, I'll bet you with my Peloton riding and doing all the farm work, I burn about 2,000 calories. There's a lot of work to be done out here. For me, it's kind of a good way to isolate myself because I'm not in a condo or an apartment like I would be in D.C. But yet with that being said, I love my back yard to be Nats ballpark. I enjoy it. I miss it a lot. I have had this farm, but I never thought I spend this much time round here. It was only supposed to be a winter thing. I can't wait to get back to my personal back yard."

During the day, there is a lot of maintenance work and grounds upkeep that needs to be done on the farm. But to make the work fun, Martinez has a couple of new buddies to tag along.

"Repairing fences, a whole lot of tree cutting," Martinez said of his daily routine. "I got about 110 acres of grass I got to mow. You name it. Gate repairs. I also got two new additions to my family, I got two little puppies now. Running around chasing those guys around. They keep me busy."

Puppies Champ and Mya get to play with the manager during the day. Martinez said he would explain someday where the Mya's name came from, but it's pretty obvious where he got the name for the first puppy.

When life hopefully returns to normal soon, the banner with that little puppy's name on it will go up on the stadium façade of Martinez's other backyard. That moment will allow Martinez to reminisce on an amazing 2019 season. He'll be back with his team, relaxed and confident, leaning forward on the top step of the Nationals dugout.