The St. Louis Cardinals are holding on to Oli Marmol.
President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak confirmed to reporters on Friday that Marmol is coming back in 2024 despite the difficult season.
"I do support him. I know he'll be back next year," Mozeliak said per Katie Woo of The Athletic. "I think the job he does is good."
Cardinals fans who have watched their team lose 81 games this year are certainly torn on this one.
On the one hand, Marmol has overseen some truly terrible baseball. On the other hand, factors beyond his control, like underperforming stars and roster holes, have undoubtedly contributed to the demise of the 2023 season.
Oli Marmol coming back for 2024 splits opinions in Cardinals fanbase
Here's how fans on Twitter reacted to the news:
The Cardinals are 65-81 going into the weekend series with the Phillies. The final 16 games of the season will determine whether St. Louis posts their worst record in almost 30 years or dips into the territory of the worst record in 100 years.
In 1995, STL went 62-81 with a win rate of .434. The 2023 Cardinals are sitting at .445. If they dip below the .432 of the 1990 squad, they'll officially have the worst record since 1978 at .426. Any lower than that and you have to go all the way back to 1924 to find a worse team.
The worst record possible for the Cardinals at this point is 65-96 with a win rate of .404.
St. Louis hired Marmol as manager ahead of the 2022 season, replacing Mike Shildt. He had been the team's first base coach and bench coach before the promotion at the age of 35.
His first season in charge was a success. The Cardinals were 93-69 and finished first in the NL Central. However, they were swept in the National League Wild Card Series by the Phillies. Since then, little has gone right for Marmol or the team.
