The St. Louis Cardinals front office has been patient with Oli Marmol this season, but the mistakes are starting to add up.
If the Cardinals fail to make the playoffs this season despite such high expectations to start the year, someone must answer for that. Marmol is the most likely scapegoat given his lack of previous managerial experience and the countless mistakes he's made along the way, including alienating two of his best players in Tyler O'Neill and Willson Contreras.
FanSided's Kevin Henry suggested Marmol could be sent packing before the end of the season, making a case against the 36-year-old for a reason:
"The question certainly isn't out of the realm of possibilities. Many predicted the St. Louis Cardinals to repeat as champions of the National League Central with a lineup that included reigning NL Most Valuable Player Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, free agent signing Willson Contreras, and plenty of other weapons…
Knowing time is of the essence for the Cardinals to turn around their season, could they take a page out of the Philadelphia Phillies playbook from last season? The Phillies axed Joe Girardi after the team's 22-29 start and elevated bench coach Rob Thomson to the role of interim manager. The move paid off as the Phillies rebounded to not only make the postseason, but also earn a spot in the World Series."
If the Cardinals were to fire Marmol midseason, the primary candidate to replace him would likely come from in-house, such as bench coach Joe McEwing. However, while Marmol has earned an in-season firing, the Cards front office has preached patience and stability, making it seem more likely that any decision would happen after St. Louis fails to reach the playoffs. With that in mind, could someone from the Cardinals coaching tree replace Marmol?
Cardinals Rumors: Hire Skip Shumaker to replace Oli Marmol
If Skip Shumaker were managing this Cards team, odds are they'd be in goo playoff positioning right now. Instead, Shumaker was not valued in St. Louis, and took his talents to South Beach. With the Marlins, Shumaker surprisingly has Miami competing for the NL East, and in a Wild Card spot despite having a lackluster payroll. Shumaker and general manager Kim Ng are on the same page, and could upset the likes of the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies by claiming a Wild Card spot out of the NL East.
Now, recruiting Shumaker to leave his job in Miami to return home to St. Louis wouldn't be a tough pitch, but it wouldn't be easy contractually. Shumaker would have to make clear to the Marlins his intentions on leaving midway through his current deal, and St. Louis could very well have to send Miami some form of compensation for stealing him away.
Shumaker might be the best candidate for this position, but the complications alone make it unlikely.
Cardinals Rumors: Replace Oli Marmol with Yadier Molina
Catchers often make the best managers, and Yadier Molina is no exception. Yadi managed the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic, gaining his first experience in what may be a long coaching career, should he wish to pursue it.
Managing in the big leagues right away with St. Louis would be a major leap for a player who is just a year or two removed from the game. But, Molina isn't most players, and he knows this Cardinals team very well. Yadi was holding together the Cards mediocre pitching staff himself these past few seasons, and has even given Willson Contreras some advice on pitch selection since his retirement.
"We all know who the guy is, the best catcher the last two decades, future Hall of Famer, first ballot," said Contreras. "But I came here to be Willson Contreras. For me it's an honor to succeed a Hall of Famer behind the plate. It's a big responsibility which I take, and I know that every time I step on the field, I do my 100% to win that day."
It's safe to say Molina is still very involved in the day-to-day operations of this team from afar. Just imagine what he could do on-site?
Surely, it wouldn't be much worse than Marmol.
Cardinals Rumors: Admit firing Mike Shildt was a mistake
The St. Louis Cardinals mysteriously and unceremoniously fired manager Mike Shildt after a 2021 NL Wild Card loss. Shildt, a veteran manager who had a decent amount of success with the Cardinals, was heartbroken, and took a role in the San Diego Padres organization. Shildt is ready to manage again when given the opportunity.
Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, Shildt was fired in St. Louis due to some "philosophical differences" with the Cards front office. Whatever that means, it was enough for John Mozeliak to install his own puppet regime with Marmol, but that hasn't led the the postseason glamour the front office hoped it would.
As FanSided's Josh Hill noted at the time, the Cards choice to move on from Shildt was curious, to say the least.
"The exact dollar amount of Shildt's deal wasn't reported, but it's believed to be on the very low-end of managerial salaries in baseball. Having a talented manager on such a cheap deal, yet moving on from him with a year left, makes the move even more puzzling. Especially when considering the Cardinals will likely look for a big name manager to step in and try to take the team to a level that the front office didn't believe was possible under Shildt — the type of hire that will almost certainly cost more than it would to have kept things as they were for another season."
If St. Louis and Shildt can put their egos aside, bringing back a familiar face to take this team to new heights might be exactly what the Cards need. Shildt wants to manage again. Why not pick up right where he left off?
Cardinals Rumors: Do not hire Tony La Russa again
Tony La Russa is a Hall-of-Fame manager and a Cardinals legend. However, he's getting up there in age, and struggles to connect to the modern ballplayer. We saw this play out with the Chicago White Sox, where he clashed with young players like Tim Anderson and Yermin Mercedes, even pushing the latter away from baseball altogether.
La Russa will always have a place among the pantheon of all-time great managers. However, like those who came before him, eventually the game passed him by. La Russa's untimely demise with the Chicago White Sox was a spectacle to behold, with Jerry Reinsdorf's right-hand man eventually being unceremoniously let go in favor of a younger manager.
TLR wouldn't provide the jolt Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office is looking for. If anything, he'd just be more of the same. La Russa struggled to manage the back-end of the White Sox bullpen, and keep track of the everyday duties of being a manager in MLB towards the tail end of his tenure on the south side of Chicago.
It was all the evidence the rest of baseball needed to ensure his days as a manager are over.
