Nationals choosing between 2 former MLB players as manager replacement for fired Davey Martinez

Billy Heyen

Nationals choosing between 2 former MLB players as manager replacement for fired Davey Martinez image

The Washington Nationals made the bold move Sunday to fire both manager Davey Martinez and front office leader Mike Rizzo.

The Nats have yet to name a new manager. They do have Monday off, which gives a bit of a buffer to make an interim decision.

According to The Athletic's Britt Ghiroli, Washington is choosing between two guys who both played a lot of MLB baseball.

Miguel Cairo is one of the candidates. He was Martinez's bench coach, which makes it a trickier situation for him, potentially taking over for his fired boss. 

Matt LeCroy is the other candidate. He's currently managing at Triple-A Rochester in the Nationals organization.

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Cairo played 17 seasons as a versatile infielder in MLB. He spent time with the Cardinals, Devil Rays, Reds, Yankees, Cubs, Mariners, Mets, Phillies and Blue Jays. He was a career .264 hitter.

LeCroy spent seven of his eight MLB seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He has followed the catcher-to-manager path after batting .260 in his career with a .440 slugging percentage.

The big former catcher also played the 2006 season for the Nationals, appearing in 39 games and hitting a pair of home runs.

Neither Cairo nor LeCroy has ever managed in the majors before. And it's not a given that they'd keep the job beyond this season.

But it sounds like one of the long-time MLB players will be the Nationals' next leader, and the choice should be made in the next 24 hours or so.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle