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The Orioles are ready to begin an extensive managerial search at an accelerated pace, with the goal of making a decision as soon as possible, said president of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias.
Perhaps the hire comes before a GM is chosen for the front office. The possibility exists, according to Elias. And interim manager Tony Mansolino is going to be counted among the many candidates.
“First of all, understanding the timing, the manner, the context around how Tony got that assignment, and everything that he needed to do and was in front of him and worked through, we think he did a terrific job as the interim manager with that particular assignment in 2025 with where the players were, with where the organization was,” Elias said during today’s press conference.
“I thought he added a lot of value and did a great job with that assignment and I got the chance to work with him much more closely during this and I'm very impressed with him as I've gotten to know him more, and I think he's a very talented guy and has a lot of skills that would add up to a great major league manager now or in the future. I've told him that we are going to utilize the opportunity of having the permanent chair vacant to talk to other people and learn and see who is available, who's interested and figure out who the right fit is for this team for 2026. That process is going to include him and he will be a real candidate, but I expect we are going to talk to other people and we're initiating that process imminently.”
Mansolino took over for Brandon Hyde on May 17 and the Orioles went 60-59, which demonstrated improvement but didn’t get them out of last place. Some jobs are just too big.
Was 2025 the most disappointing season in Nationals history? There’s a compelling argument it was.
Though four previous versions of this club (2008, 2009, 2021, 2022) produced worse records, this current group’s final mark of 66-96 might have been tougher to accept because there was genuine optimism entering this season, both from inside and outside the organization.
To see it all come crashing down in such spectacular fashion, with the final three months serving as a prolonged lame duck stretch after the July 6 firings of longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez, was a bitter pill to swallow.
“It’s always tough when you go through a lot of adversity. There was a lot this year,” said Miguel Cairo, who began the year as bench coach and ended it as interim manager. “But they fought through it, they played hard and they’re fighting to the end.”
The Nationals did play better in September than they did in any of the previous three months, going 13-13 down the stretch and playing a major role in keeping the star-studded Mets from reaching October. But their brand of baseball remained unappealing throughout the majority of the 162-game marathon.
NEW YORK – The real work begins today.
Games are done until spring training and they won’t become official until March 26, when the Orioles play the Twins at Camden Yards. But the team must be rebuilt and rebooted. A repeat of 2025 won’t suffice. Anything close to it could spark an overhaul.
The Orioles will reach important dates in the offseason, including the GM and winter meetings, the start of free agency, exercising or declining options, and the non-tender and Rule 5 deadlines. Busy hands will reshape the roster.
This could be the most active offseason in a while. What just transpired was too traumatic to tweak.
Players will trust the process, as usual.
NEW YORK – Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino is celebrating his 43rd birthday, joking with media earlier today about being old but mostly somber over the finality of the season.
“It’s always a weird feeling,” he said. “There’s certainly a strange feeling of unfinished business in a lot of ways because our fate is to go home and we’re not gonna have a workout day tomorrow and then kind of prep ourselves for a hopeful playoff run that we’ve had the last couple years. That feeling we’ve had. It’s very different, it’s a little sad is probably the right word that we’re at this point.
“Just sad in some ways.”
Joy was missing again in the Bronx today. The Orioles were swept.
Game 162 concluded with the Orioles losing 3-2 to the Yankees before an announced crowd of 45,004. They went 60-59 under Mansolino after he replaced Brandon Hyde, who was 15-28 prior to his dismissal.
Few individual baseball games carry the kind of emotions that come with Game 162. For those involving teams still fighting for the chance to play in October, it’s the ultimate blood-pressure test. For everyone else, it’s the ultimate feel-good day, a chance to chase some personal milestones and say goodbye to those who aren’t returning the following spring.
For the Nationals, Game 162 this afternoon fell squarely in the latter category. They had nothing to play for. Neither did the White Sox.
That didn’t mean there wasn’t still plenty of emotion inside Nationals Park, where a crowd of 22,473 honored the retiring Bob Carpenter and Michael A. Taylor while interim manager Miguel Cairo and his coaching staff worked through what was likely their final game in their current positions.
Throw in the brief scare of a perfect game being thrown by Chicago starter Shane Smith, and there was plenty to care about in an otherwise insignificant game.
The Nationals avoided that ignominy, but barely did so. They managed one baserunner in nine innings during an 8-0 shutout loss to wrap up a 66-96 season that represented a five-game drop-off from back-to-back 71-win seasons in 2023 and 2024.
Miguel Cairo said he has not yet been told anything about his future with the Nationals, leaving the interim manager to guide his team through one more game this afternoon and then wait to learn his fate from a new front office that is about to take over.
“Today, I’ve got a game to manage, and I’m going to do my best to get a W. And tomorrow, we don’t know,” he said in advance of the season finale against the White Sox. “Whatever is coming next, we’re not in control. There’s only one in control, and that’s the man upstairs.”
Cairo took over for good friend Davey Martinez when the latter was fired July 6, reluctant to accept the job until Martinez gave him his blessing. He enters today’s finale with a 29-42 record after Martinez went 37-53, with a chance to secure a winning September if the Nats are victorious today.
The 51-year-old slowly began managing in his own style over the season’s final three months, making lineup and bullpen decisions that likely differed from what Martinez would have done. He also made sure his position players took full infield and outfield defense prior to batting practice every day, though the Nationals continued to rank among the majors’ worst defensive units regardless of the amount of work they put in.
With Paul Toboni set to be officially announced as the organization’s new president of baseball operations this week, Cairo and his entire coaching staff should learn their fates relatively soon. The expectation is that Toboni will hire a new manager, who in turn will hire a new coaching staff. But until told otherwise, Cairo remains a candidate.
NEW YORK – The Orioles finish their disappointing season this afternoon with Ryan Mountcastle as the designated hitter, possibly in his last game with the team, depending whether they tender him a contract in his last year of arbitration eligibility.
Coby Mayo is at first base. Dylan Beavers is in left field and Tyler O’Neill is in right.
Mayo is slashing .410/.521/.769 (16-for-39) with two doubles, four home runs, six RBIs, seven walks and nine runs scored in 14 games since Sept. 13.
Kyle Bradish makes his sixth start, with seven runs and 18 hits allowed in 28 innings. He’s walked 10, struck out 39 and surrendered two home runs.
The Yankees see Bradish again after he held them to one run and two hits with nine strikeouts in six innings. He owns a 2.90 ERA and 1.419 WHIP in six career starts against New York.
For the last time in 2025, hello from Nationals Park. It hasn’t been a season to remember for the home team, which enters this finale with a 66-95 record (third-worst in the majors). But we know major change is on the way, and hopefully better days to come in 2026.
What’s at stake in Game 162? Nothing, really, from a team standpoint. On an individual level, James Wood looks to continue his great final week (while also hoping to avoid five strikeouts to tie Mark Reynolds’ major league record of 223). Daylen Lile looks for one more triple to break Denard Span’s single-season club record of 11, and to bolster his Rookie of the Year case. CJ Abrams seeks his 20th homer to go with 31 stolen bases.
On the mound, Brad Lord looks to cap a really impressive rookie season in style. The right-hander enters with a 4.12 ERA and has an outside shot at getting that number under 4.00 if he tosses five or more innings of scoreless ball. Jose A. Ferrer won’t be pitching today after appearing each of the last two nights. So if there’s one final save opportunity this season, someone out of the ordinary is going to get the opportunity to convert it.
And, of course, this is Bob Carpenter’s final game behind the mic. No matter the score, the ninth inning will be must-watch TV on MASN2.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 3:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 81 degrees, wind 5 mph in from left field
NEW YORK – This is it.
The 162nd game will be played later this afternoon, with more first-pitch swinging if one team didn’t need the win. The Yankees are fighting for the division title, still tied with the Blue Jays. The Orioles made their travel plans and are set to scatter.
Fire the starting pistol and watch them go.
The Orioles probably need a general manager with Mike Elias’ promotion to president of baseball operations. They need to decide on a manager, which could impact the entire coaching staff. They need pitching and bats. And they need to search for silver linings in a season with 86 losses heading into today.
There must be knowledge gained from it.
The Nationals knew they needed to hit for considerably more power in 2025 to enjoy better results than they experienced in 2024. And they did manage to do it. It just took longer than expected. And still wasn’t enough in the end to produce a better won-loss record.
This final week of a difficult season, though, has shown what a difference legitimate power up and down a lineup can make. With three more blasts today during a 6-5 victory over the White Sox, the Nats have now launched 12 home runs over their last three games, bringing their season total up to 161, a 26-homer increase from a year ago.
They still rank in the bottom third of the majors, and there’s plenty of room for continued improvement in 2026. But as they look ahead, this unquestionably is a lineup capable of hitting for power with far more regularity than several previous versions were.
"Heck, yeah," said interim manager Miguel Cairo, who is still waiting to learn his fate. "It's nice to see these guys, the work they've put in every single day, and still doing it at the end of the season. It tells you what they are, and what they're going to be about. It's going to be nice to see them next year, because it's going to be a force."
Today’s blasts included yet another big hit by rookie Daylen Lile, the hottest hitter on the team and one of the hottest hitters in the sport right now. And then it included back-to-back blasts by one guy not known for power (Jacob Young) and one guy very much known for power (James Wood), flipping the game for the home team in the bottom of the seventh.
For someone who has spent more than four decades speaking for a living, Bob Carpenter found himself in a most unusual position today: Sitting back and wiping tears from his eyes as scores of others offered him praise.
On the penultimate day of his broadcasting career, Carpenter was the guest of honor for “See You Later Day,” celebrating his 20 seasons with the Nationals and 42 seasons announcing major league games. There weren’t many dry eyes in the house.
“It’s hard for me to express what I’m feeling right now,” he said.
The Nats presented Carpenter with a personalized jersey and a crystal microphone statue. Those items will go home to Tulsa with the 72-year-old. The “Bob Carpenter” sign unveiled on the façade of the home broadcast booth at Nationals Park will remain here for generations of fans to see.
In addition to in-person speeches by fellow broadcasters Kevin Frandsen and Dan Kolko, plus franchise icon (and occasional broadcaster) Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals played a series of pre-taped messages that included such luminaries from Carpenter’s entire career as Lee Corso, Joe Buck, Ozzie Smith and Johnny Holliday.
NEW YORK – Tomoyuki Sugano’s future is up in the air with free agency approaching for the first time in the U.S.
Fewer fly balls might prolong his career, wherever he’s pitching next year.
Sugano surrendered three more home runs today and they came in the first two innings. Aaron Judge hit his 53rd, Giancarlo Stanton his 24th and third in two games, and Ryan McMahon his 20th. No one has allowed more in the American League.
The solo shots led the Yankees to a 6-1 victory over the Orioles before an announced sellout crowd of 46,085 in the penultimate game of the regular season.
The Orioles are 75-86 and assured of a last-place finish in the division. They can’t nudge the Rays out of fourth place.
There was enough action Friday night to fill an entire weekend series, but that was just one of three games scheduled between the Nationals and White Sox this weekend. Emphasis on the word “scheduled” there, because the forecast today is not good at all. Though it’s not really raining here yet, it’s supposed to start coming down at some point this afternoon and not let up through the rest of the day and evening. What does that mean for this game being played today? And if they can’t, would they actually force these two last-place teams to play a doubleheader Sunday? Stay tuned. As soon as we know anything, you’ll know it.
If and when they do play, it’ll be Jake Irvin on the mound looking for one final opportunity to end a rough season on a high note. The right-hander enters with a 5.69 ERA in 32 starts, not to mention 36 homers surrendered. That’s two shy of Josiah Gray’s single-season club record, a mark Irvin surely hopes not to match. He was better last weekend at Citi Field, though, holding the Mets to two runs over 5 1/3 innings. Perhaps he can pick up where he left off against what should be an inferior Chicago lineup.
At the plate, the Nationals will try to pick up where they left off Friday night, especially in the power department. They slugged a season-high six homers (in a losing effort, alas), with three coming off the bat of Luis Garcia Jr. alone. Today, they face former Terrapins right-hander Sean Burke, who enters with a 4.29 ERA and 1.5 homers per nine innings.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 71 degrees, wind 8 mph in from center field
WHITE SOX
2B Chase Meidroth
C Kyle Teel
SS Colson Montgomery
3B Miguel Vargas
DH Edgar Quero
LF Brooks Baldwin
1B Lenyn Sosa
RF Dominic Fletcher
CF Derek Hill
NEW YORK – Dean Kremer made his final start of the season on Tuesday.
He might not be done pitching.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said there’s a chance that Kremer is used out of the bullpen for Sunday’s finale. He’s pitched twice in relief out of 125 major league games, including seven bulk innings on June 12 against the Tigers.
“He’s been advocating to come out of the bullpen between starts from Day One, so yes, he’s advocating and we’ll see,” Mansolino said.
“There’s a day tomorrow, right? Isn’t tomorrow on turn for him? We’ll see how it goes. Depends if he’s pleasant to be around today or not.”
NEW YORK – The latest bullpen change for the Orioles came this morning with left-hander Grant Wolfram recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and left-hander Dietrich Enns going on the paternity list.
Wolfram has a 4.85 ERA and 1.769 WHIP in 20 appearances.
Ryan Mountcastle is out of the lineup again today. Coby Mayo is playing first base and Tyler O’Neill is the designated hitter.
Dylan Beavers is playing left field and Jeremiah Jackson is in right. Samuel Basallo is catching, which puts Adley Rutschman on the bench after he was behind the plate last night.
Tomoyuki Sugano makes the final start of his U.S. rookie season after posting a 4.54 ERA and 1.336 WHIP in 29 games. He avoided the injured list, which made him an exception on the 2025 Orioles.
NEW YORK – Orioles reliever Rico Garcia can inherit a mess or create his own. The outcome is the same.
The man wanders into a buzz saw and walks away without a scratch.
Garcia has kept opponents hitless in 10 at-bats this season with the bases loaded, including 0-for-1 with the Mets. It’s a neat escape act that shouldn’t be attempted by just anyone.
The Orioles beat the Red Sox 4-3 in 11 innings on Aug. 19 at Fenway Park after Garcia struck out Jarren Duran, Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida in the eighth to strand three of Kade Strowd’s runners. The Rays led 5-2 in the eighth inning Thursday at Camden Yards when Garcia replaced Strowd and allowed three consecutive singles. He struck out the next two batters, retired another on a line drive, and home runs from Coby Mayo and Dylan Beavers ignited a 6-5 walk-off win.
What’s the magic?
NEW YORK – The exit interview for Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers won’t mimic what he heard last fall. He won’t need a new plan to get stronger physically and mentally. The conversation will be much simpler.
“I think just rub him on the back,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said earlier today, “and tell him, ‘Please do it again next year.’”
Left unspoken will be the need to avoid what happened tonight, a beating totally out of character from the 2025 version of Rogers.
The Yankees hit three home runs off Rogers in three innings, matching his entire season total, in an 8-4 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 44,596. Giancarlo Stanton had a pair of two-run shots after two at-bats and Aaron Judge clubbed his 52nd.
The three homers tied Rogers’ career high. The last time it happened was May 20, 2022 against the Braves.
There was nothing at stake tonight, nor will there be all weekend, as the Nationals and White Sox wrap up equally frustrating seasons with three final games that have no bearing on the standings or any pennant race.
Tell these two last-place opponents and a boisterous crowd of 33,938 that packed into Nationals Park tonight this one meant nothing, though.
With a barrage of big home runs – three of them off the bat of Luis García Jr. alone – the Nats stormed back from seven runs down to take an improbable lead in the bottom of the eighth. Then they watched in horror as Jose A. Ferrer blew that lead in the top of the ninth and took a head-spinning, 10-9 loss to Chicago on the chin.
"That happens," García said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "That's nothing that you can control. That's part of baseball."
After digging themselves into an 8-1 hole behind a rocky start from Cade Cavalli and some very shoddy defense behind him, the Nationals easily could’ve played out the string and accepted their 95th loss of the year. Instead, they banded together and put together one of their best rallies of the season, thanks to the kind of power display they’ve long been waiting to show everyone.
NEW YORK – The exit meetings that are held with players at this time in the year are a custom fit for each individual. The talks don’t come off the rack.
There is, however, one central message that applies to everyone, the veterans and the core that’s much shorter on experience.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino wants something specific to resonate with this group.
“That this needs to never happen again,” he said. “That we need to solve the issues that we have and we need to fix it. And it’s up to the staff and the front office to set the path forward to fix it individually and holistically for the team.”
The Orioles are two games behind the Rays for fourth place in the division, but it’s an unappetizing consolation prize. They’d like to escape the basement but won’t celebrate it, not after back-to-back playoff appearances.
There are no guarantees when it comes to prospects. Some of the best never make it to the major leagues. Some of the lesser-known names wind up enjoying long and productive careers.
The five young players who sat in the press conference room at Nationals Park this afternoon as the organization’s annual minor league award winners, though, need only look back at their predecessors from a year ago to see how significant a stepping stone it can be.
Last September, Dylan Crews, Brad Lord and Daylen Lile were among the 2024 honorees. All three now hold prominent roles on the Nats’ major league roster, with Lord and Lile in particular bursting onto the scene as full-fledged rookies this season.
“When you look at who was in that (press conference) room last year and who is now in that clubhouse, it’s something for them to build off of,” said Eddie Longosz, the Nationals’ assistant general manager for player development. “Everyone wants to get into that clubhouse. They feed off each other, and they know what it takes to get in there.”
This year’s award winners included three prospects who finished the season at Triple-A Rochester (outfielder/infielder Phillip Glasser, outfielder Andrew Pinckney, right-hander Riley Cornelio), which makes each a potential candidate for promotion in 2026.
