Martinez gave up his job at ESPN to manage the Toronto Blue Jays. They join Larry Dierker of the Houston Astros in leaving the comfort of the broadcast booth for the pressurized job of managing a big-league baseball team. All are former players, though that was news to some of the younger Blue Jays. They only know me as a broadcaster. The communication aspect is probably more important than the Xs and Os.
Communication skills are important in many phases of a modern manager's duties.
Hopefully, I have a little bit of a handle on that. It's helped dealing with the players, too. Interviewing them as a broadcaster is one thing, pulling them aside as a manager and talking to them about their careers and what they're doing is another. But communicating is communicating, and any experience you get is going to help you. Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo had his eye on Brenly as a possible replacement for Buck Showalter long before Brenly expressed interest in the job.