Now you see him, now you don’t. Miguel Cairo was ejected for the second time in his short 21-game Washington Nationals managerial tenure. Actually, that is a welcomed sign as you have to stand up for your players. The previous manager rarely did in public. But at the end of the day, Cairo, the interim-manager, will be judged by winning, and so far he is just 7-14 on his record for a dismal .333 winning percentage. His predecessor, Davey Martinez was 37-53 for a .411 winning percentage — and he got fired.

If Cairo has a shot at keeping the manager’s job, he has to win with what he has. Yes, Cairo lost six players at the trade deadline — and a bad bullpen got even worse with LHP Andrew Chafin, RHP Luis García, and closer Kyle Finnegan are all gone. Starting pitcher Michael Soroka, OF Alex Call, and IF Amed Rosario were also traded.

The Historically Bad Bullpen

After yesterday’s game, the Nats bullpen has an ERA of 5.89. The league middle is 4.02 making the Nats more than 1¾ runs worse per game. If the bullpen pitched 9-innings, they would essentially give up nearly 6-runs per game. Think about that. You don’t win like that and especially when you have the 3rd worst starter’s ERA at 4.93. Much of this is on the quality of the players, and you have to think some of this is on the coaching staff. Subjectively, some of this might be on use and usage.

The bullpen auditions restarted on Friday — and up again were Zach Brzykcy, Ryan Loutos, and Orlando Ribalta to replace Chafin, Garcia, and Finnegan. Well, Loutos was sent back already after Sunday’s game after one of the shortest stints you will see. Sources told us that lefty reliever PJ Poulin will be called up. He was just claimed off of waivers from the Tigers. The Nats acquired another reliever, Clayton Beeter, from the Yankees in a trade last week, and we have been told by a source that he is also getting called up on Tuesday.

Time for more change

This is basically try-out season. The Nationals need a starting pitcher for Wednesday, will that be the 2025 pitching debut for Cade Cavalli? We also have been told by a source that Dylan Crews will be back with the Nats this week. That means even more changes coming.

But what about getting a look at two Triple-A players who can play multiple positions? We spoke about these players yesterday. Open up spots at first base and DH. Josh Bell was signed for the 2025 season and had no takers at the trade deadline. The same for Nathaniel Lowe and Paul DeJong. Maybe the lack of true demand to acquire any of them tells you all you need to know. Yes, teams inquired and maybe the Nats inquired back to drum up business — but in the end, none of them were traded. If you get rid of just Lowe and DeJong and put Bell on the bench, you open up two spots.

While Nick Schnell in Triple-A has only been used as an outfielder in the Nats’ system, he does have 36 games of experience at 1st base last year in the Tampa organization. He is having the best year of any minor leaguer after he was promoted to Triple-A with his .296 batting average and .980 OPS in 53 games. Schnell has that 1st round pedigree from 2018 by the Tampa Bay Rays out of high school and is only 25 years old. The Nats picked him up as a minor league free agent after the 2024 season. He is repped by the ISE Agency, and word we got from a source is that he liked playing 1st base last year. Keep in mind that Schnell has power and speed with 18 homes and 18 stolen bases with a 20/20 season or more, in his sights.

While some say Schnell can be this year’s version of Joey Meneses, remember that Jayson Werth was a late bloomer first round draft pick too. Werth solidified himself as a Major Leaguer with the Dodgers at the age of 25. Werth’s first season with over 350 at-bats was at the age of 29.

You also want to get an advanced look at first baseman Yohandy Morales who could be a key piece for next season also, and his right-handed bat would even out the very left-handed lineup some. He started off slow at Triple-A with only a .720 OPS for Rochester, but the past month, Morales heated up with the weather and is batting .304 with a .912 OPS.

One other name to put out there is Andrew Pinckney, another outfielder in Triple-A. His .833 SLG this week powered by four homers and a double with an 1.190 OPS going (7-for-24) with only three strikeouts in the week, he had a week to remember. Remember, Pinckney was a fourth-round pick in 2023, and we talk a lot about how he hit Paul Skenes so well that season going 3-for-3 with a home run. But this Triple-A season for Pinckney just got that big boost and pushed his SLG for the season to .405 with a .729 OPS. Pinckney has a 116.6 mph max exit velocity in 2025 but had been suffering from a high strikeout rate due to swing-and-miss issues. Does one hot week make it a time to call up Pinckney in a crowded outfield?

Keep in mind, we are less than four weeks to roster expansion time when interim-GM Mike DeBartolo can add another position player and another pitcher. Some think that newly acquired and former top prospect (№11 overall in 2018) catcher Francisco Mejia should get the nod. Lots of competition for very few spots.

For those clamoring for more changes in the coaching staff, especially with pitching coach Jim Hickey and hitting coach Darnell Coles, do not expect any changes until after the season. As far as Cairo as the manager, he has 51 games to go to show he deserves to be the 2026 manager.

The Financial Changes

The last piece here — and maybe the most significant is about the offseason money. As the cattle calls of “Sell The Team” get louder, the Lerner ownership group has to give their GM enough money to fix this horrific pitching staff and acquire at least one big bat for the middle of the batting order.

While we think there will be a non-tender or DFA of Lowe coming up, that would bring our offseason projection to $109 million for payroll to include arb raises for MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia, and others. The team could save more money by making some other non-tenders, like Riley Adams and Josiah Gray, but for the moment, let’s stick with just Lowe. Before the trade deadline, the Nats payroll was $140 million per FanGraphs. That gives the GM $31 million to spend to get back to the $140 million number.

If the Nats boost their revenue by the numbers former Chief Revenue Officer Mike Carney put at $20 million for selling the jersey patch sponsorship and stadium naming rights, maybe just maybe that is additive to get spending to $51 million. A modest raise in the TV RSN revenue to just $68 million would add another $10 million to get it to $61 million and guess what, we are at $170 million — and just another $10 million from getting to that MLB middle of $180 million for payroll spending.

With a player lock-out being discussed after the 2026 season, there is real risk in signing aging players to long-term deals if a new CBA causes a full season to be missed. We will see how teams approach that this offseason.

The near-future

Who has their crystal ball working? To summarize, we have to treat the next two months as a try-out for next season. Additionally, these next five months will tell us all we need to know. We are literally four months and three days until the December 7th Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida. Will the Nationals be first in line to sign some of the players they need?

Yes, there are needs. After this disappointing 2025 season, the Nationals have many needs. We will have the final tallies on September 28 to exactly the key statistics. A top of the rotation (T.o.R.) starting pitcher is a priority. They usually want long-term deals. A middle of the order bat, and two new bullpen arms of which one needs to be a closer. Can all of that be acquired for $61 to $71 million? That is the million dollar question.

With Travis Sykora needing TJ surgery for his UCL in his elbow, he will miss all of the 2026 season. The other pitcher who won’t be available to start the 2026 season is DJ Herz who is recovering from his own TJ surgery. The 2026 rotation is very wide open. While Gore wasn’t traded, the team needs a starter either in front of him or behind him to form a 1-2 ToR in this rotation. We will see if Brad Lord can be the №3 and Jake Irvin as the №4 with several internal candidates for the №5 in the rotation.

Everything will start with pitching. But team balance is a key. This team has to shore up in every aspect from pitching, offense, defense, baserunning, and baseball IQ.

Too many questions, and not enough answers.