All is quiet at Nationals Park. Fewer employees work at 1500 South Capitol St. SE these days. After dozens of front office employees were given notice that they weren’t going to be retained for future employment, the chatter, and certainly the leaks are less than a trickle out of the spicket of information gathering.

Who has actually done in-person interviews for the managerial vacancy? We were told there were about a dozen names on President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni‘s list. Some of those names usually include some who are under contract by other teams. You don’t always get permission to interview everyone who is under contract. The list got pared down.

The only name that publicly was on the pared down list was Miguel Cairo, the 2025 interim-manager of the Washington Nationals. But our source expects that Cairo will not get the job. The rumor mill had added former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde to the list as well as former Guardians bench coach, Craig Albernaz, who has now officially been named the new Orioles manager. A source told us that Albernaz was not in the Nats’ final grouping to be their next manager. Source tells us that there were several more names on the list. Good on Toboni for that.  Ramón Vázquez and Rocco Baldelli were two other names we heard were on the original list, but no confirmation if they were actually interviewed by Toboni. Vázquez is the Red Sox bench coach, and Baldelli was let go by the Twins.

On the current managerial vacancies, the Nats, Braves, Rockies, Twins and Padres are still in search of managers. That is five teams still on the clock. Most feel that the Padres, Braves, Nats, Twins, and Rockies is the ordering of the best opportunities for a manager. There might be some crossover for candidates interviewing with one or more of the teams. A source told us that it is about fit. Yes, the Padres were a playoff team this year making them a hot ticket after Mike Shildt retired.

One hot name out there right now is Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann. Also there are George Lombard and Ryan Flaherty as other popular names out there along with David Ross. Add Albert Pujols, Bob Melvin, and Nick Hundley to names being tied to other teams. That is certainly more than five names for five jobs. And Toboni could go totally off-script like Buster Posey just did by hiring a college head coach, Tony Vitello, as the Giants new manager.

A source tells us that Toboni retained Brian Daubach, Matt LeCroy, and Sam Narron from the Nats’ minor league system. There are some others too. How will they figure into the new hierarchy? Will any of them end up on the MLB staff?

Remember, some front office people left before Toboni’s hiring was announced. Most notably from the top of the scouting department, Danny Haas left, and as we reported, Brad Ciolek left right after him to go to the Tigers.

We heard that Toboni kept Jonathan Tosches, Quality Assurance Coordinator and Reed Dunn national crosschecker in the scouting department. And Mike DeBartolo, who was the interim-GM in 2025, has also been retained — but his new title hasn’t been disclosed. The only significant new hires so far have been in the front office with Devin Pearson, Andrew Wright, and Justin Horowitz. None of their titles have been disclosed. Both Pearson and Horowitz have strong scouting backgrounds, and Wright was the field coordinator with the Red Sox. The field coordinator position is within the auspices of player development.

As of now, nobody has been officially named as the GM, Manager, VP of Player Development, or Director of Scouting which were positions previously held respectively by DeBartolo, Cairo, Eddie Longosz, and Haas. Of course, DeBartolo and Cairo held their positions with interim tags. It is possible that the GM spot remains vacant going forward.

The entire coaching staff, which includes Cairo, will technically be on expired contracts as of Sunday, per a source who says that they were only signed to one year extensions last year for this 2025 season only. That list of coaches includes Henry Blanco Bench Coach, Ricky Bones Bullpen Coach, Darnell Coles Hitting Coach, Sean Doolittle Pitching Strategist, Ricky Gutierrez Third Base Coach, Jim Hickey Pitching Coach, Chris Johnson Assistant Hitting Coach, and Gerardo Parra First Base Coach. And yes, it is possible that the Nats’ new manager could retain one or more of these coaches.

Since the World Series in Toronto is played in a stadium with a roof, there won’t be a chance of a rainout. There won’t be any baseball on Sunday unless there’s another 18-inning game. For all intents and purposes, expect next week to hear some teams announcing hirings. Maybe they will use tomorrow’s day-off from the World Series to make an announcement.

Who is picking up the coffee and donuts today for the front office?