2 Oli Marmol replacements who never played for the Cardinals, 1 who did

The St. Louis Cardinals went out and acquired pieces like Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham at the trade deadline. Both players have played well this year. They recalled top prospect Jordan Walker. All of their moves are in an attempt to win now.

But they are experiencing quite the collapse right now, highlighted (or lowlighted) by their recent three game series against the Cincinnati Reds as David Bell's Reds swept away Oli Marmol's Cardinals.

Speaking of Oli Marmol, there may not be a manager on a hotter seat than the one that Marmol is on right now. The Cardinals are desperately trying to win before their aging veterans retire and Marmol just isn't doing that.

They will cover all their bases as they look for replacement options over their current skipper. They will even look at potential managers that have no previous affiliation with the team, like the three men I'm going to talk about now.

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3. Terry Francona

I'll admit it, this one isn't the most likely. Terry Francona moved on from managing while he was in a good place with the Guardians. Francona left and entered managerial retirement on his own accord rather than being fired and forced into it. With that in mind, it's important to note that getting Francona to come out of his retirement would be quite the uphill battle.

The Cardinals could try to find a way to bring Francona back to managing games as he would be quite the upgrade over what they have right now.

Thomas Gauvain of Redbirds Rants recently pitched some managerial options for the Cardinals. He mentioned Francona and how he could make a comeback to managing.

"Tim Kurkjian of ESPN recently reported that Terry Francona would consider returning to the field in the next year and a half. Kurkjian reports that '(I) was told Tito is going to get healthy and then he'll be back [managing] in a year and a half...he loves the game, part of his fiber in every way, would not be shocked to see him back.'"

If Francona does decide to come back to managing, he could have the perfect landing spot in St. Louis.

2. Carlos Beltran

If the Cardinals do get rid of Marmol at the end of the season, or even earlier, they will probably first begin looking at internal options or other former Cardinals. If those don't seem to work out, they could end up landing on somebody like MLB veteran, Carlos Beltran, who played for the Cardinals in 2012-13.

Thomas Gauvain of Redbird Rants recently pitched the idea of Beltran being brought on as the Cardinals skipper.

"Carlos Beltran was close to becoming a manager just 3 years after his retirement. The New York Mets planned to have Beltran be their manager in 2020, but the two parties mutually agreed to part ways due to Beltran's involvement in the Houston Astros cheating scandal in 2017. He never managed a game."

Beltran has the tools to manage a big-league club, as is obvious given the fact that the Mets were willing to hire him before the scandal. That scandal is now a thing of the past that shouldn't be hung over Beltran's head.

He's known for his baseball IQ and his ability to be a leader. The Cardinals would be foolish to not at least explore the idea of bringing him to St. Louis if Marmol gets the cut.

1. Joe Maddon

If the Cardinals are going to go out of their comfort zone while looking for a manager, they could end up heavily discussing the possibility of bringing the great Joe Maddon to St. Louis to be their skipper.

Maddon was the Tampa Bay Rays manager for nine seasons where he won the division two times and the AL pennant once. He then moved onto the Chicago Cubs, where he was their manager for five seasons where he won a pennant and a World Series championship, breaking the Cubs championship drought in 2016. Maddon last managed the Los Angeles Angels from 2020 until 2022.

Maddon is a legendary manager that has been successful every step of the way, besides in Los Angeles with the Angels. Still, he was able to hold the team together much better than they were without him.

Maddon would be the idea target for the Cardinals to pursue, if they can get him to come back to managing baseball for the first time in three years. There may be other teams with interest in the managing great as well.