3 realities Cardinals fans need to accept and 1 fantasy that may yet come true

Cardinals must accept hiring Oli Marmol was a mistake

St. Louis fired Mike Shildt despite a postseason appearance after the 2021 season due to organizational differences, whatever that means. In his place, they hired a young Oli Marmol.

Marmol was guided to the postseason by a trio of veterans in Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt are the next wave, and performed admirably as well.

Now that Molina and Pujols are gone, leaving Wainwright, Goldschmidt and Arenado to lead this team, the lack of a clubhouse presence has been exposed. Marmol is not the manager the Cardinals thought he would be at this point in his tenure, and has instead essentially served as a front office pawn, all the while benching a frequently-injured Tyler O’Neill for a lack of hustle, and removing Willson Contreras from the catcher position for failing to live up to Yadi’s standard.

To fire Shildt, a veteran presence who brought the team together, was always a bold approach. It has backfired, as the youthful Marmol, full of energy and eager to prove himself, has instead gone a step too far on several occasions. St. Louis could easily make him the scapegoat this offseason, should they choose.