After firing Davey Martinez, the Nationals are promoting his right hand man Miguel Cairo
The Washington Nationals officially have a new manager, more specifically an interim manager. After firing Davey Martinez, the Nationals announced earlier this afternoon that his bench coach Miguel Cairo will take over as interim boss.
We have named Miguel Cairo the club’s Interim Manager.
→ https://t.co/5PFlXMOLrR pic.twitter.com/r9RmAodhSk
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 7, 2025
As the bench coach, Cairo was always the obvious candidate to get the job. He was Davey Martinez’s number 2 the past couple of seasons. Whenever Davey got ejected or had to miss a game, Cairo would take his place.
Cairo was a close confidant of Martinez, with the pair being teammates in Tampa Bay. That made it a tough decision for Cairo. Sources have said that Cairo was offered the job yesterday, but had to take some time to mull things over.
Heard the Nationals offered the interim manager job to Miguel Cairo yesterday who wanted to think it over. Obviously a weird situation for Cairo, who was Dave Martinez’s bench coach. Matt LeCroy, Nats Triple-A manager, would appear to be the guy if not.
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) July 7, 2025
While Martinez is a good friend of his, the chance to manage a big league club does not come around often. So eventually Cairo decided to take the job. He will likely get the rest of the season to manage the club and audition for the role going forward.
Cairo has actually been an interim manager before. In 2022, Cairo was the interim manager of the White Sox, taking over for Tony La Russa. Cairo actually gave the White Sox a spark down the stretch and performed better than La Russa.
In the 34 games Cairo managed, the White Sox went 18-16, better than La Russa’s 63-65 mark that season. White Sox fans were mostly happy with Cairo’s work as the interim.
White Sox since Miguel Cairo took over. Lots of green W’s. If only this change happened months ago like it should have. pic.twitter.com/mqbrYC2heg
— Mike (@ChiSoxFanMike) September 16, 2022
Hopefully Cairo can give the Nats that same kind of spark. The energy has been missing from this team for a lot of this 2025 season. Maybe this could be the wake up call this squad needs.
Changes have been needed for a while and now they have finally come. It will be interesting to see if Cairo has a real chance at the full time job. Given how close he was to Davey, it could make it tough for him. The fans and seemingly the owners want change. Making a top Davey lieutenant the full time guy would feel like a half measure.
However, if Cairo performs he will get looked at for the job. This is a young, underperforming group. It is easy to envision Cairo turning the team around and bringing the team into the fight. Davey Martinez seemed oddly detached all season.
While Cairo is a Davey guy, his youth could bring something to the table. He will also be a new voice in a room that has probably heard the same cliche’s over and over again. I am fascinated to see what is next for the Nats and what the future holds in the Miguel Cairo era.