Oliver Marmol: St. Louis Cardinals Manager
Updated: Nov 24, 2021
On Oct. 25, 2021, the 51st manager of the St. Louis Cardinals was publicly announced. Oliver Marmol (35), now has the reigns over the clubhouse as he replaces former manager Mike Shildt who was relieved of his duties earlier this month.
“Oli” is no stranger to the “Cardinal Way”, as he was drafted by the Cardinals back in 2007. Marmol didn’t find his footing as a player and eventually decided to end his playing career in 2010.
The following year, he became a minor league coach. He found success in his first five seasons with his teams compiling a 268-225 record (.544) and multiple first place finishes before becoming the Cardinals first base coach, then bench coach.
Marmol now becomes the youngest MLB skipper, and looks to embrace the role, as well as being collaborative with the front office and analytics departments to make the most of this opportunity.
It didn’t take the front office long to come to this decision, which seems to go against one of John Mozeliak’s favorite lines of due diligence. However, sometimes when you know… you know.
Personally, I find this to be a very good hire for the Cardinals. You have a guy that has good relationships with the current coaching staff (which all look to be returning), the analytic & scouting departments, as well as the players.
Marmol serving as the bench coach under Shildt, I think prepared him for in-game decision making and as Mozeliak stated during the press conference, Oli will be able to put his fingerprints on this current Cardinals roster.
It didn’t take long for fans on social media to chime in on their thoughts on the hire. Some ranging from calling Marmol a puppet or “yes man” to the front office, with them calling a majority of the shots. Some others who seem 100% against this hire, had also spouted off about it being a bad move for the front office to have fired Shildt (despite those same people complaining about Shildt all season).
Others have shown support and embraced the youthfulness as well as the Cardinals hiring someone of Dominican descent (who is fluent in multiple languages) as exciting and long overdue.
When asked about the importance of it, Marmol replied “These opportunities don’t come across the table to the majority of the people that grew up like that,” Marmol said. “And for them to be able to identify and see someone of color in a position of leadership, especially for a franchise, a winning franchise, one with the history that the St. Louis Cardinals has, is extremely meaningful.”
Marmol doesn’t believe that his age (which is younger than current Cardinal players Adam Wainwright & Yadier Molina) will either benefit or hurt the ability to lead this club. Citing that the relationships with players comes from being open & honest with them about getting the most out of their talent, and knowing when to have the hard conversations when need-be also.
Overall this is a combination of the Cardinals front office playing it safe with keeping the manager from “in-house” to also the risk of hiring another manager with no prior MLB experience to lead a team expected to compete at it’s peak for the 2022 season.
The 2021 World Series has yet to begin, and yet here we are with a new manager at the helm. One who has a lot to offer. One that has many ties to the winning tradition of the Cardinals. And one who is already looking to take St. Louis to the next level. As he stated today, anything less than a World Series championship going forward will be considered a disappointment.
What are your thoughts on the Marmol hiring? Let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading. Go Cards!