Cardinals expected to name Oliver Marmol as next manager on Monday
Written by Luck Wilson on October 24, 2021
The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to announce Oliver Marmol as the team’s next manager at a press conference on Monday at 10 am local time. CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden has confirmed the reporting of Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Marmol, 35, served last season as the Cardinals’ bench coach. He’s a former Cardinals draftee and minor leaguer who also served as a hitting coach in the minors. Marmol also boasts managerial experience at the minor league level, as he guided Johnson City and Palm Beach within the Cardinals’ system.
Marmol would immediately become the youngest manager presently in the majors. The Padres and Mets have yet to fill their vacancies.
That the Cardinals had a managerial vacancy has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. Earlier this month, the team announced they’d parted ways with Mike Shildt, who was fresh off a 92-win season and postseason berth. Also, Schildt’s win percentage of .559 across three seasons is the highest figure for a Cardinals manager since Johnny Keane’s .560 in the early 1960s.
Given Marmol’s long history in the organization — long by the standards of 35-year-olds, at least — there’s no doubt a deep mutual familiarity. Given that Shildt’s ouster was owing to, in the words of president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, a “philosophical difference” with the front office, team brass surely expects no such friction with Marmol. Marmol’s reported hiring also suggests he’s comfortable embracing an analytically driven approach to his managerial duties and is likewise on board with the data-driven methods of hitting coach Jeff Albert.
Expectations in 2022 will be high for both Marmol and the front office. The Cardinals return a core of Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Jack Flaherty and breakout slugger Tyler O’Neill, among others. Also, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina are back for what figures to be a final season.
Marmol would become the franchise’s 37th manager since 1900.
KVSP