Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak pledged a swift resolution to the club’s managerial vacancy. With plenty of coaching talent already in the organization, he explicitly referred to internal candidates who could carry the torch and lead the next World Series squad in St. Louis.
That has become readily apparent. Current bench coach Oliver Marmol is expected to be named the 51st manager in Cardinals history on Monday, a source told MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi, which would make him the youngest manager in the Majors at 35 years old.
The club has not confirmed the hiring, which was first reported by MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic, but has a press conference set for 10 a.m. CT on Monday. Former manager Mike Shildt was dismissed on Oct. 14 due to “philosophical differences” between him and the front office.
In choosing Marmol, the Cardinals passed on a few other individuals who appeared as prime candidates for the various managerial openings around baseball. Current first-bench coach Stubby Clapp, 48, has been interviewed by other organizations for their openings in the past and would have been a more seasoned option. Skip Schumaker, a World Series champion as a Cardinal and the Padres’ associate manager, was thought to be another possibility.
But in tapping Marmol, the Cardinals are putting faith in an individual they have groomed for years through their system. Marmol, known better as “Oli”, was the Cards’ sixth-round selection in the 2007 MLB Draft before quickly turning in his playing days for the role of a coach. He was an indirect disciple of Tony La Russa, learning from the Hall of Famer during Spring Training both his baseball sense as well as his coaching styles.
Marmol was scouted by Shildt when the latter was a young scout for the organization. The two held a close bond, with Marmol serving as Shildt’s bench coach over the past three seasons. Marmol, like Shildt, will have held no MLB playing past nor MLB managerial experience before assuming his first gig atop a clubhouse. But he did manage the Cardinals’ Low-A team, the Palm Beach Cardinals, and the Johnson City Cardinals, which was the franchise’s Rookie-level team until 2021, throughout his years climbing through the system.
Marmol, a native Spanish speaker who would be the first full-time manager of color to lead the Cardinals, will now inherit Shildt’s clubhouse, one that has made the postseason each of the past three seasons, with young stars, perennial MVP candidates and wily veterans, including the last go for Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina — both of whom are older than their new manager.
Most importantly, Marmol will take over a clubhouse that has nothing short of championship aspirations for 2022.