St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol is in a holding pattern of his own making. The Cards hit the reset button this season, per soon-to-be former executive John Mozeliak. With Chaim Bloom set to take over full-time shortly, Marmol could be on the outs as soon as this winter barring a surprising postseason run from St. Louis.
This isn't to say Marmol hasn't made strides the past couple of seasons. His early-career mistakes – often self-inflicted and made through the media, such as calling out Tyler O'Neill for poor baserunning fresh off an injury – are less frequent these days. However, it's also fair to question if he is the right manager to lead the next era of (hopefully) great Cardinals baseball. Fans are rightly fed up and attendance has suffered thanks to the lack of changes made this past winter. Marmol is a part of that, as is Mozeliak and his inability to trade Nolan Arenado.
If Marmol is let go, the Cardinals have plenty of options, including team legends like Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina who are waiting for their chance to manage an MLB team. Both former Cards have managed well in LIDOM, and will represent their countries from the dugout in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
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Skip Schumaker, ideal Cardinals manager, may have better options on the table
All that being said, if Bloom were to target a young skipper with a successful managerial stint under his belt, Skip Schumaker is the man for the job. The issue with Schumaker has nothing to do with his clubhouse presence or in-game decisions. The problem is the Cards would not be alone in their pursuit of him.
Schumaker is currently serving in the Texas Rangers front office as an adviser of sorts, and would be a logical Bruce Bochy replacement should he retire after this season. In fact, there are a number of veteran managers potentially entering their final years in a dugout, Brian Snitker of the Braves chief among them.
Braves fans have grown fed up with Snitker thanks to Atlanta's subpar start. On Saturday, Snitker failed to send a message to outfielder Jarred Kelenic when he didn't hustle out of the box and was thus thrown out at second base. Even star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. called Snitker out.
When weighing options this winter, Schumaker would be wise to choose one of the Braves or Rangers, if the jobs are open, over St. Louis. Both teams are better positioned to contend right away than the Cardinals.
The Cardinals have been more than patient with Marmol. It could backfire as soon as this winter.