MLB Rumors: Cardinals turn up the heat on manager Oli Marmol

Oli Marmol survived last season, as the St. Louis Cardinals front office claimed to have faith in the second-year manager. However, heading into his third campaign in charge, Marmol needs to turn the team around, as Cards ownership has invested far too much of their resources in the organization to fall short again.

The Cardinals have postseason aspirations, as they do every year. So far this offseason, they have somewhat addressed a glaring need in the starting rotation by signing Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. John Mozeliak likely is not done adding pitching help, either. St. Louis has an outfield surplus to deal from, and they are not afraid to use that resource -- the Cards are actively listening to offers on Dylan Carlson and Tyler O'Neill.

The Cardinals have arguably been one of the more aggressive teams this offseason, and with that comes extra pressure to succeed right away. That's where Marmol comes in.

“I’m very bullish on him. But I also work for an owner, and we want things to get turned around. And by no means is this putting all of the pressure on him. … We are a team. And as a team, we have to change our trajectory," Mozeliak told Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Do the St. Louis Cardinals have confidence in Oli Marmol long term?

Much of Oli Marmol's future will be determined this coming season. It was always unlikely that Mozeliak would fire Marmol just a year after making the postseason in his first full season as manager.

Marmol made some glaring missteps in year two, such as benching Willson Contreras and calling out Tyler O'Neill publicly to the media, among others. Those did not go unnoticed by the front office. However, he has a chance to learn from those mistakes.

Now with (hopefully) a better team at his disposal, Marmol can take the Cards exactly where they want to go -- back to the postseason.