Grading Nationals Managerial Mess Between Davey Martinez and Miguel Cairo

The Washington Nationals ended up with one of the worst managerial situations in baseball during the 2025 season.

Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez looks on during the third inning against the Boston Red Sox at Nationals Park. | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals made a managerial change in-season, something that invites a bad grade in the context of the 2025 season.

The Nationals fired Davey Martinez in July, coming at the same time as the firing of president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo. The latter wouldn’t fire the former, and while the loyalty is laudable, both lost their job for a myriad of reasons, not all of which had to do with 2025.

Martinez went 37-53 this season. A 2-14 start to June doomed the season and likely Martinez’s job. The Nats were on their way to their sixth straight losing season and Miguel Cairo finished off the season. He went 29-43 at the helm, which wasn’t much better.

The Nationals have hired a new president of baseball operations in Paul Toboni, who has already begun assembling his staff. He has not hired a new manager yet, so the possibility still exists that Cairo could get the full-time job. But that seems unlikely. The franchise fired Martinez and Rizzo for a fresh start. Elevating Cairo full-time wouldn’t accomplish that.

Grading Martinez and Cairo

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Between the pair there was only one winning month, piloted by Martinez — a 15-12 May. The Nationals were outscored, 135-133, during the month. But it was a wild month. Washington won four of the first five games, followed by a seven-game losing streak. The month ended with perhaps their best stretch of the season — an 11-4 record from May 14-31.

But Martinez and his team couldn’t sustain it. Injuries played a role, including to outfielder Dylan Crews. The rotation, overall, was in the bottom half of baseball. The bullpen struggled, aside from closer Kyle Finnegan. Little of what Martinez tried worked, especially in June as the season slipped away with a 7-19 record.

After the firing, Cairo took over. He had managerial experience, but he did not boost the team’s fortunes. The Nationals went 9-15 in July and then 9-19 in August. An interim manager’s key function is to keep the team afloat. Cairo didn’t do that. The trade deadline did him no favors. The Nationals traded off key pieces, including Finnegan, which gave him less to work with.

Cairo did pilot the Nationals to a 13-13 record in September. The pair combined to help guide the team to a 24-18 record in one-run games. They were also 16-45 in blowout games, decided five or more runs. Somehow, the Nats did well in one-run games. Some of that could be chalked up to the manager.

In the final analysis, neither had enough to work with. But neither did enough to make what they had work.

Final Grade: D