The St. Louis Cardinals 2023 season officially reached its end on Sunday, with the team honoring starting pitcher Adam Wainwright before his retirement, and with a 4-3 win over the rival Cincinnati Reds. The season did not go the way the Cardinals had expected, as they fell out of postseason contention and opted to sell at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. The reasoning behind the decision was to bolster the farm system to help contend in 2024. So, this offseason will be an important one this offseason.
On Sunday, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol was asked by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about what the first step is to ensure the team can compete in 2024. Marmol then made some rather eye-opening comments, saying that he wants "a clubhouse full of guys that has one thing on their minds, and it's not themselves" and that he plans to weed those players out.
Cardinals' Oli Marmol wants to weed out clubhouse of selfish players
This is certainly an eye-opening comment by Marmol. But, as Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat points out, the Cardinals manager would not mention who he was referring to.
Despite the team missing out on the postseason and finishing in last place in the NL Central with a 71-91 record, Marmol's job is not in danger. On Sept. 15, Cardinals team president John Mozeliak said Marmol will return for the 2024 season.
As mentioned earlier, the Cardinals noticed that the postseason would not be attainable and decided to move on from impending free agents to get a return. But, their priority this offseason is notably starting pitching, as they will have three openings in the rotation.
Regarding the plan this offseason, Marmol said that this isn't going to be a rebuild, they want to compete for a championship in 2024.
We'll find out how the team and clubhouse looks after the offseason and heading into the 2024 season. But Marmol has let it be known that he wants players in the clubhouse that only focus on winning a championship.
