re: ATL Thread: 7/13 vs Metropolitans

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Not only what (Canó) might give us on the field, but what he gives us by watching the game and the questions people ask, and things he sees that he points out — those things are valuable,” Washington said. “All that’s valuable. We’ve got a bunch of babies here. They’re winning babies because they’ve been together, they’ve been successful. But they’re still babies. Some of them just reaching five years, some of them got three. But now to have him in the fold?

“It was like when that lefty was here, Cole Hamels. We gave him $18 million, and he pitched one game for us. But the difference he made with Max (Fried) — taught him how to think, taught him how to prepare, you know what I’m saying? That’s the value that they bring. More than what their talent might bring on the field.

“We know they know how to play, but that wisdom and that knowledge, man — you can’t buy that. And that’s what (Hamels) did. And this guy’s gonna rub off on Ronald pretty soon. Because sometimes Ronald still acts like a baby. But he’s gonna help him to grow up. That’s what he brings, man. That’s what he brings. I’m happy he’s here.”

And that brings us back to how Canó ended up on the field at 3 p.m. Tuesday, his second day with the Braves, doing one-on-one drills with Washington, two men with 109 combined years on this Earth and 70 spent in professional baseball, working and sweating more than four hours before the first pitch.

“I’d seen some things that I wanted to try to talk to him about, on the defensive side,” Washington said. “He was open. He went out there early and he was open to it, and he worked on it. And he tried it in practice. He’s 38, 39 years old, he didn’t have to do that. And I didn’t either. I didn’t force him to come out, I just gave him a suggestion. I just told him, the way my mind works, I see something and I can’t just see it and not say something. I can give you some things that can make you better, even though you’re 38, 39 years old, you’re Robinson Canó — I respect that. But I can give you some things that can help you, and he said, ‘I’m in.’ And he came out today at 3 o’clock and went on that god**** field and worked.

“And he told me, he’s Robinson Canó, and that’s the way people treated him — ‘Why do I need to go work with you, you’re Robinson Canó?’ A hitting coach — ‘What can I tell you, you’re Robinson Canó?’ Understand what I’m saying? I said, ‘You know what, I thought the same thing, but I’m a different animal. When I see something, I don’t give a **** who it’s for, I’m gonna say it and I’m gonna give it to you. I’m gonna give you an opportunity to decide if you want it or you don’t want it.’”

Washington and Canó is a match that took decades to happen, but for the Braves, it’s one that might prove more fruitful than imagined when they made a trade Sunday that seemed like nothing more than a no-risk flyer.

“I’m not gonna just say on my own, ‘Well, he’s Robinson Canó, he don’t want it,’” Washington said of approaching Canó about doing early work Tuesday. “Because the day might come when (Canó) starts teaching this ****. So everything you can learn, everything you can gain, you can make a difference in life. In a life. And all you want to do in this business is make a difference in a life, because you can’t get to everybody. But if you can get to one son of a *****? He gets to the other son of a *****. And he gets to the other son of a *****. You see what I’m saying? That’s how the **** works.

“He came out, man. He worked. And we’re going to do it again in Washington (this week). Just keep it going, you know. And I understand the heat. Don’t worry about the heat. I’m not gonna keep you out here in this heat. We’re gonna go get done what we’ve got to get done, and we’re gonna get out of there. And the rest of this ****, we’re gonna talk about.”

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