WASHINGTON (AP) — Manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo were fired by the Washington Nationals in moves that were surprising for their timing, even if the club is more than halfway through its sixth consecutive losing season since winning the 2019 World Series.
The team announced the changes Sunday just hours after Washington's 6-4 loss at home completed a sweep by the Boston Red Sox. The Nationals are 37-53 and last in the NL East; the only National League club with a worse record is the Colorado Rockies.
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FILE - Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo watches during a spring training baseball practice Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FILE - Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, left, watches with general manager Mike Rizzo during spring training baseball practice Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez walks back to the dugout after a pitching change during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez wears a patriotic themed cap as he walks back to the dugout after a pitching change during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
But the amateur draft is just a week away, and Washington has the No. 1 overall pick.
Senior VP and assistant GM Mike DeBartolo is taking over for Rizzo on an interim basis. Bench coach Miguel Cairo was named interim manager Monday.
“Miguel is well-respected in our organization and around baseball,” DeBartolo said. “A diligent worker and student of the game, he has a proven track record of showing strong leadership in a variety of situations, and I believe that his voice and energy will serve as a catalyst to our team and our fan base in the second half of the season.”
Washington could have exercised options to extend the contracts of both Martinez and Rizzo beyond this season.
“While we are appreciative of their past successes," Nationals owner Mark Lerner said in a statement issued by the team, "the on-field performance has not been where we or our fans expect it to be. This is a pivotal time for our club, and we believe a fresh approach and new energy is the best course of action for our team moving forward.”
Rizzo’s time running the Nationals is over after more than a decade and a half. One of the Lerner family's first hires when it assumed control of the organization, Rizzo had been GM since 2009 and added the title of president of baseball operations in 2013.
“He played an instrumental role in leading the transformation of our farm system and building a roster that reached an unprecedented level of organizational success,” Lerner said. “Mike helped make us who we are as an organization, and we’re so thankful to him for his hard work and dedication.”
Martinez is the fourth manager fired since the start of this season — after Pittsburgh’s Derek Shelton, Colorado’s Bud Black and Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde.
Martinez’s full record with the Nationals was 500-622. Last month, he bristled at a reporter's question about how to split the blame for poor performance among players and his staff.
“It’s never on coaching,” Martinez said then. “Never on coaching. Coaches work their (butts) off every single day. We’re not going to finger point here and say it’s coaches. It’s never on the coaches. They work hard. The message is clear. All the work is done prior. So, sometimes, they have to go out there and play the game. It’s always been about the players. Always.”
Martinez had never been a manager at any level when Rizzo hired him to replace Dusty Baker before the 2018 season. The Nationals went 82-80 in Martinez’s first season and got off to a 19-31 start the following year, leading to some calls for him to be replaced.
But Rizzo stuck with Martinez, and that decision paid off in a big way: Led by starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg, who earned World Series MVP honors, and Max Scherzer, rookie outfielder Juan Soto, young shortstop Trea Turner and a string of veterans — including Howie Kendrick, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon — the Nationals won the franchise’s first title.
No one from the World Series roster is still playing for the franchise.
Washington took a step back in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and then Rizzo began tearing apart the roster, making a series of trades that sent Scherzer, Soto, Turner and others elsewhere.
The reconstruction has continued, without much in the way of concrete progress in the standings to show for it, although the team does have some building blocks that show promise, including starter MacKenzie Gore and outfielder James Wood — both named NL All-Stars on Sunday — along with shortstop CJ Abrams, who was an All-Star a year ago.
“Nationals fans have a lot to be optimistic about, and we see these changes as a difficult, but necessary move in a positive direction,” Lerner said. “As has been the case since my late father took control of the team almost 20 years ago, our family remains committed to winning."
Washington finished fourth or fifth in the NL East every year from 2020 through 2024, never putting together a higher winning percentage than the .438 (71-91) each of the last two seasons.
“I’ve always appreciated and admired Davey’s passion for the game of baseball and the love he has for his players," Lerner said. "Davey’s ability to connect with our staff, our players, our fans and our community set him apart. While this chapter has come to an end, we know that it doesn’t close the book on what should continue to be a long and successful career in baseball.”
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FILE - Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo watches during a spring training baseball practice Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FILE - Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, left, watches with general manager Mike Rizzo during spring training baseball practice Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez walks back to the dugout after a pitching change during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez wears a patriotic themed cap as he walks back to the dugout after a pitching change during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
The latest:
Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.
Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.
Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”
As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.
Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.
Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.
At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.
The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”
The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.
Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”
Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.
“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.
He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”
Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
