Jason Marquis Talks Washington Nationals On Sirius/XM.

The newest Washington Nationals' starter, Jason Marquis, appeared on Sirius/XM's MLB Inside Pitch which was hosted by Jim Duquette and Casey Stern(I think, though it's usually Seth Everett) on Wednesday, to talk about the decision to sign with DC in an interview that was plagued by a ringing phone which interrupted just about every answer the 31-year-old right-hander supplied in explanation of his choice of team for the 2010 campaign...

Why Washington? 

Jason Marquis: "Obviously I always liked the National League...you sit there and you look at team's needs, and see the moves they make, and it starts back with the Strasburg signing, obviously we all know the talent that he has based on the scouting and the videos, coming up to this offseason, getting Brian Bruney for the bullpen, making the necessary choices to get this team going in the right direction, and also the pieces they have in place in Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Ryan Zimmerman, Cristian Guzman, they've got a good core of players that could have this team contending and competing for the next few years, and with the addition of a few pitchers I think this could make the team a lot more competitive."

Are you looking to stay in Washington long-term?

Jason Marquis: "I would love to, and that's one thing we discussed going through the negotiations...(ringing phone) and hopefully (I'll) be around when they hopefully do make that move and get to the playoffs and get to the playoffs and potentially the World Series. So, we'll see, take it day-by-day, inning-by-inning...get the team hopefully in the right direction and we'll see where that leads from there, hopefully there's enough interest and they see what they like to maybe talk something as the time goes on..."

To what do you attribute your success and consistency?

Jason Marquis: "A lot of hard work...a lot of paying attention, staying within myself, I take pride in...day in and day out...I'm excited about every opportunity I get to pitch on the major league level and I don't want anybody to take that away from me. I pride myself on my hard work, my work in-between starts, my competitive edge to win every possible game I possibly could and that never die attitude."

Talk about the competition in the tough NL East?

Jason Marquis: "There are definitely some quality teams in our division, some good lineups...but ultimately (it's about) what the Nationals can control and that's playing good baseball, fundamental baseball, limiting our mistakes, more mental mistakes more than anything, and I think everything can take care of itself, you know, obviously, you're going to have games where you're going to get beat up, and there's going to be games where you beat up on teams, but it's those in-between games where maybe, you threw it to the wrong base, you didn't take the extra base, you didn't realize Albert Pujols was on deck and know the situation of the game that could ultimately determine the game, so you've got to pitch, hit, run for that day, try to win every ballgame for that day and not look too far ahead and give yourself a chance every time you step on the field, and that's something that I've learned from not only teammates, from great managers and I think that's what made all of these organizations i've been a part of so successful."