Washington Nationals Manager Reveals Fate of his Coaching Staff
For those wondering what will become of Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez’s staff for this season, he revealed their fate before Wednesday’s game.
Martinez said that his entire coaching staff will be back in 2025, as all signed their contracts on Tuesday.
The staff that signed new deals included bench coach Miguel Cairo, hitting coach Darnell Coles, pitching coach Jim Hickey, first-base coach Gerardo Parra, third-base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson. The deals were all considered renewals.
So, no matter how the season ends for the Nationals (55-66), Martinez will have the same staff around him. Washington lost to rival Baltimore on Wednesday.
Martinez said to reporters that he wanted to get the deals done before the end of the season and was aligned with general manager Mike Rizzo and other baseball management for next season.
“This way, there’s a little bit of unity and all the guys know that they’ll be back,” Martinez said. “Instead of doing it at the end of the year, I really felt like this is a good core, we work really good together and they’re doing a great job with our kids. For me, it was important to get it done as soon as possible.”
Blanco is the dean of the staff and the only coaching link to the Nationals’ 2019 World Series title, aside from Martinez. He was the bullpen coach from 2018-21 and then moved into his new role in 2022.
Last year Martinez signed an extension that made him Washington’s manager through at least 2025. The Nationals have an option for 2026. The club didn’t release terms but MASN Sports reported Martinez was being paid $3.5 million per year.
He took over as manager in 2018 and led the Nationals to the league title one year later, as Washington beat the Houston Astros in seven games in the World Series for the franchise’s first title.
That is Washington’s best season under his leaders. The Nationals have not finished better than .500 in a season since then.
Before that, he claimed a World Series ring as a member of Joe Maddon’s coaching staff for the 2016 Chicago Cubs and also coached for Maddon in Tampa Bay from 2008-14, as the Rays made their first World Series appearance in 2008.
Martinez was a Major League player for 15 years before he went into coaching, including a stint from 1988-91 with the Montreal Expos, which was the name of the franchise before it moved to Washington.
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