On Wednesday, Miguel Cairo was informed that he will not be returning as manager of the Nationals next season. The remaining staff, highlighted by pitching coach Jim Hickey and hitting coach Darnell Coles will also reportedly not be back in Washington in 2026 unless the newest manager of the team in Blake Butera chooses to retain them, which would be a surprising development to say the least.
However, this article is not about Butera and his candidacy for the job he ended up getting, but about the other names he was competing against, as we also learned many of the initial candidates to replace Cairo as the team's head skipper.