Potential Oli Marmol replacement: Former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt
Absolutely, this is a long shot, but would the Cardinals even consider bringing back the man that Marmol shockingly replaced as the St. Louis skipper in October of 2021?
It certainly wasn’t that Shildt didn’t have success during his three-plus seasons overseeing the Cardinals. He was dismissed with a 252-199 mark and led St. Louis to the postseason in each of his three full seasons in the dugout. He also earned NL Manager of the Year in 2019 as St. Louis logged a 91-71 record and won the NL Central.
Still, the Cardinals didn’t believe that he was the right person to get them to the World Series, losing in the Wild Card round in his final two seasons. While St. Louis thought Marmol might be the answer, his ousting in the Wild Card last season and plummet from grace this season has people suddenly realizing that perhaps Shildt wasn’t so bad for the franchise.
Shildt, now serving as a coach for the San Diego Padres, has said he would welcome the chance to manage again. Could that chance come with the team that fired him? It’s very unlikely but, if emotions could be put aside, the fit between the two sides isn’t that hard to imagine.