The owner of the St. Louis Cardinals has recommended that the head coach’s salary this month not be paid due to misunderstandings with two players.
The youngest manager in Major League Baseball had his supervisor express surprise that a move was made at all at the opening of his introductory press conference. Oliver Marmol, however, had clearly articulated his own vision for carrying on the route he thinks will take the St. Louis Cardinals to greatness by the time the 45-minute discussion ended. Marmol said, “We will prepare in a way to take our opportunity at a championship.
Less than that, and it will be disappointing. A first-time major league manager may find a high bar and clear expectations intimidating, but Marmol’s familiarity with the team and his pre-existing trust in some of its key players help. He has already spoken with Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright, whom he referred to as “our core.”.
He also had a conversation with his immediate predecessor, Mike Shildt, and got his approval to succeed him as the 51st manager of the club. “It was good to be able to have that conversation with Mike and receive his support for moving this organization forward once everything got cleared up and we came to terms,” Marmol added.
Shildt, for his part, expressed his “deepest and most-trusted respect” for Marmol in his statement made last week, and his presence in the background of Monday’s announcement seemed to confirm that sentiment. Even while the Cardinals’ top officials gathered to salute and celebrate their new manager, talk turned to their abrupt split from their prior one. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak acknowledged, “Perhaps our explanation on this was a bit vague,” when reading from a prepared statement during his introduction.
He was only allowed one word now. High-performance psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais, who teaches leaders to master skills, had urged the Cardinals management to express his ideology in a single phrase. Marmol was stymied on two, though:
Sincerity and inquiry.
These are the qualities that made him a major league manager in the first place and, in his rookie season, helped him finish first with a 93-69 record.
And these are the qualities that, particularly the first term, will enable Marmol to reclaim the top spot in the rankings and the favor of Cardinal Nation.
The day before pitchers and catchers report for 2024’s crucial spring training, Marmol told me in his office on Monday that honesty is first and foremost staring in the mirror and being honest with yourself. It takes honesty to ensure that you are doing all the necessary steps to succeed. Following that, being sincere with others and projecting an image that allows others to be honest with you. This offseason was spent a lot thinking about what I needed to improve on. Afterwards, putting some of those things into practice.
Marmol resisted, doing what he hopes his pitchers won’t, when asked to name such places.
Fair enough. To be sure, 2023 was an incredible year tainted by Cardinals underachievement that resulted in just 71 wins. The management wanted to keep his mistakes to himself on Monday. All he wanted was for the fixing to take center stage.
And Marmol looks to be psychologically prepared to take on the full task of making the Cardinals the Cardinals once more as 2024 approaches.
This third season is his “rubber game,” so to say, following a good and a disastrous year.
And look, during the catastrophe that was 2023, he was obviously honest and inquisitive. Marmol is modest and hungry enough to acknowledge that he still has opportunity to develop his two-word ideologies and his management skills, though.
He contributed to their entry into this mess, and he will contribute to their exit.
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He won’t be the manager in 2025, of course, if they stink in 2024. That is, I believe, understood by all. For this year, though, Marmol is the best candidate.
He radiates baseball intellect, a grasp of the contemporary player (and modern analytics), and a deep respect for the benchmarks established by the greats of the past when you talk to him.
He will also have a bench coach this year, who has been carefully chosen. Maybe that matters more than some fans understand. Joe McEwing is a competent baseball player. Marmol’s guy, nevertheless, is Daniel Descalso. Living in the Cardinals minor league system, they grew up together. As baseball minds, they matured together. With his bench coach Skip Schumaker, Marmol had a great thing going in 2022. Schumaker went on to become Miami’s manager in 2023 and the National League manager of the year. With Desc also at his side, the optimist believes Marmol can maximize his management.
Marmol will also be better this year because his guys will be better. Not that Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson are particularly impressive, but they show promise in contrast to some of the disappointing hurlers from the rotation last year. More pop from Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, and a few of the other young players who gained experience last year is also to be expected.
