The St. Louis Cardinals front office will undergo a shakeup this winter, as John Mozeliak gives way to Chaim Bloom as president of baseball operations. Like most front office difference-makers, it wouldn't be a surprise if Bloom wanted to bring in his own manager to oversee a likely rebuild. St. Louis was unable to trade away the likes of Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas and Nolan Arenado. That will all change under Bloom, and Oli Marmol could pay the price.
Marmol has largely been a positive influence for the Cardinals this season. St. Louis is over-achieving, sitting around .500 in mid-August. Prior to the season, the Cards weren't expected to compete for an NL Wild Card spot, yet as of this writing they are just 4.5 games back of the third spot. It's not inconceivable that the Cards could go on a wrong and steal that spot, especially with a month-plus left in the season.
Yet, a decision made by Marmol this weekend could hint at the future, whether Cards fans are ready for it or not.
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Cardinals invite Yadier Molina into the dugout
There is no guarantee that Yadier Molina is the next manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. However, former Cards players like Molina, Albert Pujols and even Skip Schumaker have been rumored as preferred managerial candidates if Marmol is let go. All three have demonstrated the ability to work with young players, especially Molina and Pujols, who have experience in the World Baseball Classic and Winter Leagues.
Marmol claims the organization will always come before him, which is why Molina was invited in the first place. It's a classy decision that, despite being an honorable one, could come back to haunt him.
“I can’t think that way. That would be pretty damn selfish and insecure if you ask me,” Marmol said. “If he’s going to make you better, you have him around. I could care less what noise comes with that. This is a guy who played a role in my development as a coach when I first got here, being able to talk to [Molina] and [Minor League instructor] José Oquendo about the game. The fact that Yadi was going to be in town, I think it would have been a huge miss to not invite him into the dugout for a few days.”
Oli Marmol refused to put himself first in Cardinals managerial drama
Marmol said all the right things about inviting Molina into the fold. But with a front office change looming, watching Yadi in the dugout could make a huge difference in how the organization views the potential Hall-of-Fame catcher moving forward. If the Cards young players learn a lot from Molina in just a few days, imagine how he could benefit them long term?
That's the pressure Marmol is facing. He undeniably did the right thing in inviting Molina, but there's no denying that it could cost him.