The Washington Nationals are currently sitting at home with the rest of us, enjoying the pleasure of watching this marathon Game 3 of the World Series continue to go on forever. Part of the reason why the club is sitting at home right now and has been for awhile is because of their lack of consistent leadership from their coaching staff.
After World Series winning manager Dave Martinez was fired during the regular season, interim manager Miguel Cairo took over for the remainder of what was one of the most disappointing campaigns in the history of the organization. Since the firings of both Martinez and previous GM Mike Rizzo became official, many more members of the front office have since been moved on from as well as Paul Toboni takes over the reigns.
His first major decision will be figuring out who their next manager is going to be, and it may have gotten a bit more difficult after one candidate the team interviewed ended up taking another job in Craig Albernaz. At the time of writing, we have knowledge of the team interviewing 3 candidates so far, and they all have varying backgrounds.
The first is Albernaz, who just ended up taking the job with the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend. He had a very successful stint as the bench coach for the Cleveland Guardians, and his hiring has been met with tons of support from those around the league who have crossed paths with him. Obviously, we will learn more about how he can lead a clubhouse and his own team, but all signs seem to look as if he will be a very good hire for the Orioles.
The second candidate who has interviewed is Cairo, who of course took over earlier this season in his second career opportunity as an interim manager. His first time was with the Chicago White Sox, and while Cairo has a lot of similarities to Martinez, one of his closest friends, he showcased a lot of fire and was unafraid of getting ejected to stand up for his players. Him interviewing is likely more of a formality due to his familiarity with the team and organization, but I would be shocked if he ended up being the choice.
Finally, the team interviewed former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, who ironically enough was fired in the middle of a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Nationals earlier this season. Hyde was pretty successful throughout his tenure at the helm for Baltimore, but things began so spiral out of control this season as the Orioles ended up being arguably the most disappointing team in baseball this past year.
At this point, it's probably fair to assume that the Nationals are going to interview more candidates, as Toboni will likely be very strategic about who he brings in to manage his new team. I would anticipate that he gives interviews to some members of the Red Sox, his previous organization, due to his familiarity with them. It will be very interesting to see which direction the Nationals go with their next couple interviews, but if Hyde ends up being the pick, I would not be completely opposed.
What do you think of the candidates the Nationals have interviewed so far? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.