Coaching Overhaul in D.C: Why The Washington Nationals Are Cleaning House And What Could Come NEXT?

Coaching Overhaul in D.C: Why The Washington Nationals Are Cleaning House And What Could Come NEXT?

Miguel Cairo is out of the Nationals managerial search, but more importantly, Nats fans, it’s over. You are Locked on Nationals, your daily Washington Nationals podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen every single day is where are free and available wherever you get your podcast. And I am your host Ryan Clary, your Nationals insider here, part of the Locked on NA podcast network where it’s your team every single day. And later on in today’s program, Brandon Hyde is still in the running for the Nationals managerial position. And honestly, while some people may think no, it’s not that bad. I’ll tell you why more later on in the show today. And in the second segment, the Nationals, they have showed some interest in two names that are really big in the baseball world that might make you kind of look around and say, “Them really, wow, the Nationals could be doing something good.” So stay tuned for that. I’ll tell you who those names are later on in the show today. But we start off discussing the news of the day as yesterday Andrew Golden and Spencer Nusbomb of the Washington Post reported that Miguel Cairo is no longer in the search for your next Nationals manager. But more importantly, things are changing with the coaching staff. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. And right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. So, Miguel Cairo is out of the running from the Nationals next managerial position. That’s what we all expected. But the bigger news is that Darnell Kohl’s, the hitting coach for the Washington Nationals, and Jim Hickey, the pitching coach for the Washington Nationals, have been told by Paul Tabone that they are likely not coming back unless the new manager wants to retain them. Um, that’s probably not going to happen. I’ll tell you that right now. But number two, I think this is big news. We expected this, but I also think that the nationals and the things that have gone wrong over the past few seasons and when it comes to development, I think Darnell Kohl’s and Jim Hickey as well were kind of used as the guys that were easy to blame. It was easy to say, “Well, CJ Abrams is going in a slump because of Darnell Cole’s coaching.” Maybe. But also, the more likelihood of that is that CJ Abrams maybe doesn’t have the best mechanics. Maybe there’s questions the way that he prepares himself each and every single day. Maybe there’s something deeper than what the coaching staff might be saying or might be coaching them for. One thing is clear though under this new Tabone era is that the Nationals are going to prioritize coaching. I have always said that I believe that a manager position, yes, you are a coach. Yes, you are there to coach up your guys. Yes, you have your specialties. And with some players and former players like Albert Puhol who might be getting a job with the Padres’s, they’ve got something that they are good at. So obviously players are going to listen to guys like Pooh Holes, but when it comes to the Nationals under Paul Tabone, you are going to have real coaches. And it’s not to say that Darnell Kohl’s and Jim Hickey weren’t real coaches. They have each had success in their own right. Jim Hickey with the Tampa Bay Rays having a Sai Young winner with Blake Snell and then Darnell Kohl’s under the Brewers as their hitting coordinator. like these are guys who actually do have really good resumes that back up some of their support there. But it was not working here in DC. And so moving off of Hickey and Kohl’s that just kind of really feeds this hungry fan base. And I think at times like again just to kind of get into it deeper, Darnell Kohl’s and Jim Hickey weren’t the issue. They are not the reason why the Nationals were losing games in 2025 and in 2024 and in 2023. Like this was a flawed team. And people have tried to get upset with the fact that like why is our offense so bad? Why can’t this guy hit the ball in this situation? Why has Darnold Cole said this? Why has Jim Hickey said that he’s not all in on analytics? These are all things that were said verbatim. But also, are we really expecting Joey Maness to have some big offensive season when he’s batting fifth in your lineup? Are you expecting a regressing Nathaniel O to all of a sudden come here and take off and be this all-star player that he once was? Are you expecting a turnaround from Dominic Smith, from guys like Kberise? No. Like, yes, the Nationals did not have a good coaching staff and changes had to come, but also if you do get good coaches in here, things aren’t going to turn for the better overnight. It’s going to be a process. And so seeing these guys go out the door, we thank them for their services, but it was long overdue. I still don’t believe that the Nationals hiring whoever they do hire as an ex-manager is going to come in and have this life-changing coaching staff. I’ve talked about the dream scenario when you have a new regime come in. It looks like the Detroit Tigers, which two, three years ago, people were talking about them being a completely failed rebuild. All of a sudden, you get a new president of baseball ops. You get a new GM in town, and all of a sudden, they’re one of the best farm systems in all of baseball, if not the best one. And they’re one of the best teams in the American League each of the past two seasons. Like, things can happen and things can change. I think they will change around here, but that should not be the expectation. And so having a new coaching staff in town, I think we all expected this, but now to finally actually hear the reporting yesterday from Andrew Golden and Spencer Nusbomb that Miguel Cairo is out as your Nationals next manager and Darnell Kohl’s and Jim Hickeyi and the rest of this coaching staff have been told that you’re likely out as well unless the new manager does retain you guys. So that’s good news for the Nationals. you’re going to have a clean slate for guys coming in here and starting fresh with this organization. But that does bring up a good kind of similarity here and kind of things that might not be changing. Shawn Doolittle and Chris Johnson. Shawn Doolittle has been the pitching strategist here for the Nationals for the past two seasons. He has been the guy holding the clipboard, getting the data and the analytics and getting them to their pitching staff. Whether or not Doolittle has done a good job or not, that’s still up for debate. I’m not a 100% sure. I’ve heard that he is great. I’ve heard that pitchers love him. And if you really notice when guys and starters in particular come out of the ball game, they’re not talking to Jim Hickey right away. They’re talking to Shawn Doolittle. Especially some of the younger guys like last year with DJ Hers and Mitchell Parker and I saw Andrew Alvarez speak to Shawn Doolittle a lot this season. So Shawn Doolittle obviously has the respect of the players and I think he does have the respect of Paul Tabone as well. He spoke with him and right now their futures are quote unquote unclear within the organization. And that goes for Chris Johnson as well who is the Nationals assistant hitting coach for this team. But Shawn Doodle is the one that I want to focus on because I’ve always said there’s one guy in the staff that I’m like, you know what, I gotta see more of what he can do. I want to see what Shawn Dittle can do. If it doesn’t fall under this new staff coming to town, then I think that is something that we could definitely talk about. And again, are the Nationals making a mistake if they let Shawn Dittle walk out the door? I don’t know. I truly do not know at this point because it’s easy enough to give Shawn Doodle all the credit when guys like DJ Hers come out to be a success story. Mitchell Parker comes out and be a success story and Andrew Alvarez, but also we don’t give Jim Hickey that credit. We give him all the blame. So like, who’s who in this scenario? I’m going to take my bet and say that Shawn Doolittle is probably a pretty good coach regardless of the talent that he has been given. But this is someone who can coach up a team. Like you don’t just come out of retirement and not even retirement, the guy jumped from playing baseball basically going right back into the dugout with the Nationals. Like this is someone who wants to be a coach and he has been with this team for what feels like forever at this point and he’s a Nationals icon. Of course you want him in the in the dugout here for your team, but I think the jury is still out on him. Whether or not this is someone that we want to retain for now, if it were my decision, I’d keep him in his role. I’d want someone to have that experience as a closer in baseball, have that experience with success right here in DC and also have the ability to approach players in ways that quite frankly the analytical nerds like myself can’t like you want to have that and Shawn Doolittle has that perfect match and can get to some of these pitchers. So Shawn Doolittle and Chris Johnson for the matter of fact as well, those are your intriguing guys right now. Will the Nationals next manager retain them? Will the Nationals try to go their separate ways? And will the Nationals, whoever they do hire, want to bring in their own guys? Will Paul Tabone want to bring in their own guys? Will Devin Pearson want to bring in his own guys? We don’t know at this point. So right now, Miguel Cairo is out and he will not be coming back with the Washington Nationals. Darnell Kohl’s and Jim Hickey, they are out as well and will not be coming back unless the new manager hires them, which I’ll let you guys answer that question, but that’s where we’re at. And of course, Shawn Doolittle and Chris Johnson, the pitching strategist for the Nationals. Doolittle and the assistant hitting coach with Chris Johnson. Both have been told their futures are unclear at this point in time, but they have met with new president of baseball operations Paul Tabone. But next, the Nationals have officially shown interest in two guys that I think are would be terrific hires. I’ll tell you who those guys are after this. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. 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So, in that story from Spencer Nusbomb and Andrew Golden of the Washington Post, two great reporters for the Post on the Washington Nationals, the Nats have shown interest and former Twins manager Roco Beli and as well as Dodgers bench coach Danny Layman. These are two very intriguing guys and honestly, these are two big names in this cycle that I think will get jobs this off season. But who will it be? and will it be the nationals? Let’s start off with Roco Beli and just kind of go over him. I mean, we have discussed Roco Beli as someone who has been number one a former player back with the Rays in his day. But of course, Rockco Bellli has been with the Minnesota Twins for quite some time now. And of course, they let him go this year when everything kind of went to you know what with the Minnesota Twins. They sold off the deadline and things did not go too well. But in his first year back in 2019, this was probably the best team in the American League. And yes, of course, they got bounced, but that is Minnesota. He won 101 games in that season. In fact, won the manager of the year in his first year as manager of the Twins. And that is an organization that is pretty used to losing. I mean, that is an organization that has notoriously been bad. So, you might look at the Twins and say, “What does Rockco Beli bring to them?” Well, number one, they are a shabbing of an organization. You sign Carlos Koreah, you’re all in on him, and then just a handful of years later, you trade him away. What are you doing? There was never a plan in place. And oh by the way, the development of prospects, shocker, did not catch up with what they were trying to do. This was an organization that I think had a great manager with Baldelli and who made a lot of correct decisions and someone who is very used to the way that data and analytics should be used in baseball. And this is someone that in my opinion just kind of got a bad rap with where the Twins were at. This was someone who kept a team that quite frankly should not have been where they have been the past few years and he did some really good things with them in my opinion. I really liked what Baldelli did with the Twins. I think if the Nationals were to land a Roco Baldelli, this would be a great great hire. This is someone who understands the game, who has again played at a high level up in the major leagues, played with the Tampa Bay Rays and a few other teams back in the day, but this would be a great hire for a team that needs a new culture. He came from an organization like the Twins who have no winning history as of recent and he was able to succeed there and the players loved him. Now, here’s the thing that might turn off the fan base a little bit when it comes to Baldi because you’re going to hear this and you’re going to say, “Why?” But he kind of reminds me of Davey, but the good parts of Davey. And Davey was a fine manager at times. I think Beli is an actual better manager in the moment, and we saw a lot of guys develop at the major league level. I think that’s in part to the manager that he is and the coach that he is as well. He has that perfect marriage between managing and as well as coaching. And that is something that you can kind of rarely get nowadays. And being that former player, if someone were to tell me that Roco Beli is a dream hire, I would say that makes sense. I think Rockco Beli would be a great hire for this nationals team. Now, another great hire for this nationals team would be Dodgers bench coach Danny Layman. I think Danny Layman has a very very interesting background and he was actually promoted from the game planning and communications coach with the Dodgers back after 2023 to their bench coach job in which obviously they won the World Series last year. They’re in the World Series right now looking to hopefully win their second straight World Series. And this has been kind of one of those coaches that has really been on the rise the past few seasons. It’s not like climbing the ranks when it comes to the NFL. Like everyone always talks about that next hot shot offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, the guy who’s in his 20s and everyone’s like, “Okay, I want whatever that is.” Baseball doesn’t necessarily have that. It’s really just kind of word of mouth and everything behind the scenes. Like coaching is done really behind the scenes and before games in which fans cannot see that. It’s done in batting ca c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c cages where there’s no cameras and no spotlight there so no one can really kind of get a clear bird’s eye view of what these guys do but everything that I have understood and I actually got a text from someone pretty close to the nationals who said Danny Layman would be my guy if I were Paul Deone that’s pretty crucial I asked him why and he goes well for many different reasons number one he comes from a culture of success with the Dodgers And then number two, I think he can coach with the best of them. That is a pretty damning quote that is not someone within the Nationals, but of course close to the organization. So Danny Layman should be on this Nationals radar. Now, here’s the thing for him. The Atlanta Braves, and I actually saw this the other day from a Braves beat reporter, but the Braves seem to be enamored with him. Coming from the Dodgers, you would probably think that Layman is not going to come in and take this job if you are being offered the job by the Atlanta Braves. Now, things might get a little weird. Maybe the Braves only want to offer you a two-year deal and the Nationals are willing to give you a four-year deal. That’s the kind of semantics that it’s going to come down to. Will the Nationals do that? I don’t know. But the thing that I can tell you is this. The fact that the Nationals are swimming in these waters with guys who have proven it before with Baldi and also might be a next rising manager at Danny Layman. These are the waters that you want. You are talking to different guys from different backgrounds from different organizations getting an idea of not just what they will be as the next manager but how the Dodgers do things. I’m assuming the Nationals will interview Danny Layman eventually if they have not done so already or maybe talk to him. Who knows what they have done. But a lot of these interviews, presidents and GMs pick the brains of these organizations that some guys may come over from. Like you might ask them, hey, what do the Dodgers do in this situation? How do you get this equipment? What might be the way that we can talk to ownership to get that particular thing in our house? How do you frame it? How do you discuss that? And how do you use it? These are things that happen within the sports world a lot of times and I think a lot of different ways. Like seeing the Nationals cast this wide net, Brandon Hyde, Rock Beli, Danny Layman, these are organizations that have had success and these are managers that have had success. and of course a bench coach with a team fresh off a World Series and has the greatest player to ever grace this game with Show Otan. They know winning baseball. They have been a much better organization and yes, that goes for the Orioles and the Twins as well than the Nationals over the past few seasons. So, this is going to be exciting times. And I think that right now, the fact that the Nationals are in these waters with some bigname guys, maybe the Nationals managerial position might be a little more enticing than what people think. So, this is going to be pretty crucial as the Nationals kind of start to narrow down their choices. I’m sure we’ll see reports about guys who want to be here and guys who may not want to be here. But speaking of guys who may want to be here, Brandon Hyde, he wouldn’t have to move that far from Baltimore up into the or down to the DC area. So, let’s talk about that. And I think a lot of people kind of give Brandon Hyde not a lot of credit. I think you should. I’ll tell you why I think that after this. This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks, and you and I make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. 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It’s good to be right. I saw a lot of you. you guys out there really trashing Brandon Hyde. I get it. He’s not the best manager in baseball. He also was not the worst manager in all of baseball. In fact, I think if you’re going to make an argument whether Brandon Hyde was the worst manager in baseball or the best, I think you could probably make the argument that he was the best in baseball over him being the worst in baseball. That’s not what we’re going to do. A lot of people would be underwhelmed with the signing of Brandon Hyde. And I think I wouldn’t be underwhelmed, but I would be wellelmed. Like, it’s not like the most exciting thing out there, but then you think of it and you’re like, well, what did Brandon Hyde do? when he was hired by the Orioles back before the 2019 season, he was given a team that was deep in a rebuild. Deep. Like a team that was a mess. You trade Manny Machado. You’ve got a bunch of old vets. You have nowhere to go. You have no farm system. That was a mess of a team. Well, what did he do since then? He won. not much. He lost 108 games in 2019. He then lost 110 games in 2021. And then all of a sudden in 2022, the team starts to look up and they win 83 games. And the next season after that, they win 101 games. Is that because of Brandon Hyde? No. But also, Brandon Hyde was not a reason as to why they were losing. And Brandon Hyde knows one thing. how to keep a team afloat during a rebuild and some might even say a failed rebuild with the Orioles. Mike Elias was the guy who constructed that team with the Orioles. But Brandon Hyde, keeping your guys fresh each and every single day is a big deal throughout a rebuild. How many times over the past few seasons have you said, “Man, CJ Abrams looks checked out. James Wood looks checked out. These players seem like they don’t want to be here at this point in like the middle of August. I’ve seen that a lot. And maybe I read too deep into body language. Maybe some guys are just sore and they need to rest, but they can’t rest because they’re playing each and every single day. Maybe it’s some of that. But also, I think that comes from the managerial position and having someone who has been there and has done that and understands the assignment and understands that he needs to give his young players opportunities to succeed in hitting the lineup each and every single day. That’s a big deal to some guys. And I think with what the Nationals want to do right now, you have to consider that the Nationals are in a rebuild. like this is not something that’s going to click overnight for this team. And so having Brandon Hyde in place, he should at least be in the conversation. And there is a discussion to be had whether or not he is the right guy. And I think you can make that argument that he is the right guy. Is he my number one choice? No. But if the Nationals do go and hire him, it makes sense for what they are trying to do. A phrase I’ve always said on this show, if you’re an everyday air, you probably know it. You can tell me Bigfoot is out there, but I have to see Bigfoot for myself to believe in it. I’ve seen Bigfoot with Brandon Hyde. He has gone through a rebuild. He has gone through losing 110 games and then like two years later, he wins 101 games. It’s not all on him, but he has kept the guys afloat and kept the guys interested enough to where things got interesting with the Orioles. That’s not all on Brandon Hyde. It’s not all on uh Michael Elias, but they each get a slice of the pie there. And I think Brandon Hyde did a better job than what people maybe made it seem like. And I think just what the Orioles did this season, they fell flat. And the reason why he was canned was really what I think was the postseason last year. I thought it was a complete debacle by the Orioles. I mean, they were he was awful in the postseason. That’s what I will say about Brandon Hyde. But the one thing that he did well was when the Orioles had no expectations. He kept the players in the game and he kept them interested and he kept the guys in there and then when they were ready to break out, Brandon Hyde made some correct decisions and made some really good calls for the Orioles. So, he may not be the sexiest hireer, but think about for where the Nationals are. It’s not the worst thing in the world if they were to hire him. I’m not saying he’s my number one guy. I want to say that again. He’s not. But if they were to hire him, I could make it make sense in my head. What says you? Let me know. You can tweet at me at Ryan Clary 11. You can drop a comment in our YouTube section as well. just look up Locked on Nationals. But I will catch you guys on the flip side. We are one day away from Halloween. We got a little Halloween special here tomorrow on Locked on Nationals. So stay tuned. I’ll talk to you guys then. Have a good one. Go Nats.

Ryan Clary breaks down the Washington Nationals’ managerial search as Miguel Cairo exits the running and the coaching staff faces a complete overhaul. With hitting coach Darnell Coles and pitching coach Jim Hickey likely departing, the organization signals a fresh start under Paul Taboni’s leadership. The episode explores two intriguing candidates: Rocco Baldelli, the former Twins manager who won 101 games in his debut season, and Danny Lehmann, the Dodgers’ bench coach fresh off a World Series run. Clary offers a nuanced defense of Brandon Hyde, still in contention despite fan skepticism, arguing his experience navigating Baltimore’s rebuild mirrors Washington’s current trajectory. The discussion challenges easy narratives about coaching failures while examining what truly drives player development and organizational culture during a rebuild.

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0:07 Miguel Cairo Out of Managerial Search

1:39 Coaching Staff Changes: Coles and Hickey

4:43 Were Coaches Really the Problem?

7:47 Sean Doolittle’s Uncertain Future with Team

11:53 Nationals Show Interest in Baldelli and Layman

16:31 Danny Lehmann: Rising Star from Dodgers

21:38 Brandon Hyde: Underrated Managerial Candidate

25:44 Hyde’s Rebuild Experience with the Orioles