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The Nationals named Miguel Cairo interim manager this afternoon, promoting Davey Martinez’s bench coach in the wake of his firing Sunday evening.
Cairo will take over Tuesday night when the Nats open a three-game series in St. Louis, inheriting the same coaching staff he was a part of the last 1 1/2 seasons.
The former big league infielder was offered the job following Martinez’s dismissal Sunday after the team was swept by the Red Sox, falling to 37-53 in a season that was supposed to see the franchise take a significant step forward in a rebuilding effort that began four years ago. He took a day to consider the offer before accepting.
Triple-A manager Matt LeCroy likely was the Nationals’ other option to replace Martinez for the remainder of the season before a full managerial search is conducted by ownership and the club’s eventual permanent general manager.
Mike DeBartolo, who was named interim GM on Sunday after Mike Rizzo was fired following a 16-year tenure leading baseball operations, is now in charge of day-to-day operations. In addition to the 72 games remaining on the team’s schedule, DeBartolo also has immediate responsibilities leading the Nats into Sunday’s MLB Draft (they hold the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since they drafted Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in 2009-10) and then the July 31 trade deadline.
“Miguel is well-respected in our organization and around baseball,” DeBartolo said in a statement released by the club. “A diligent worker and student of the game, he has a proven track record of showing strong leadership in a variety of situations, and I believe that his voice and energy will serve as a catalyst to our team and our fan base in the second half of the season.”
Cairo, 51, joined Martinez’s staff in 2024 following the dismissal of former bench coach Tim Bogar, a longtime close confidant brought in to work in the dugout alongside his friend and work with the club’s infielders. The Venezuela native worked for the Reds, Yankees and White Sox after retiring in 2012 following a 17-year playing career and became Chicago’s interim manager late in the 2022 season after Tony La Russa went on medical leave. He guided the White Sox to an 18-16 record during that brief stretch.
Cairo shares many of Martinez’s qualities but typically preferred to stay out of the spotlight while serving as bench coach. He communicated with players one-on-one or in small groups and shied away from interviews unless forced to endure them when filling in a couple of times when Martinez was unavailable to manage.
He now finds himself overseeing a coaching staff that otherwise remains intact – pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, first base coach Gerardo Parra, catching coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle, quality assurance coordinator Jon Tosches – a staff handpicked by Martinez in recent years because of his close relationships with all.
Whether Cairo becomes a serious candidate for the job on a permanent basis remains to be seen, but he’ll be given a 72-game audition over the next three months to make a case for himself before ownership and the eventual permanent GM decide how to proceed.
