It was expected, but Paul Toboni has shaken up the Nationals coaching staff. Along with that, Andrew Golden of the Washington Post revealed that Miguel Cairo is out of the running for the Nationals managerial job. None of this is surprising news given the team’s front office overhaul and 66-96 record in 2025.
A lot of coaches from last year’s staff have been told they are not returning unless the next manager opts to keep them around. The biggest names of the group are hitting coach Darnell Coles, pitching coach Jim Hickey and first base coach Gerardo Parra. Hickey had been the pitching coach since 2021 and Coles had been in charge of the hitters since 2022.
Both of those guys were Davey Martinez hires through and through. Hickey and Martinez worked together in Tampa Bay and Chicago. Both were on Joe Maddon’s staff and had built up a relationship. Coles’ contact hitting philosophy aligned with Martinez’s views on hitting. The pair were also teammates on the 1992 Cincinnati Reds.
Cairo was also a former Martinez teammate and ally. While Paul Toboni interviewed him for the job, he was never seen as a serious candidate. He was too aligned with Martinez and did not get enough out of the team in his stint as interim boss to justify staying around.
In the Washington Post piece, it was revealed that the Nationals have interest in former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann. Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has also interviewed for the job. It seems like the manager hunt is starting to accelerate. I would not be surprised to see a new manager announced in the days following the World Series.
However, Hickey, Coles, and Parra are not the only staff members to leave. Henry Blanco, Ricky Gutierrez and Ricky Bones are also out. All of those guys have been around for multiple seasons and were Martinez allies.
Two coaches who are not out quite yet are pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson. While their futures are uncertain, they are not out just yet. Those two coaches were seen as more analytically inclined.
It will be interesting to monitor the rest of this coaching search. When will the Nats get a new manager and what kind of staff will they assemble? We will get the answers to those questions in the coming weeks.