St. Louis Cardinals rumors: Oli Marmol's seat heats up, rotation fit, trade chip pays off
By Mark Powell
St. Louis Cardinals Rumors: Is Oli Marmol's job in jeopardy?
The St. Louis Cardinals are not expected to move on from manager Oli Marmol despite the team's struggles this season. It would take a monumental collapse -- and likely some clubhouse drama -- to force Marmol out. While the front office is understandably disturbed by their on-field product, Marmol is unlikely to be judged for any second half issues the Cardinals have.
The job of Marmol post-trade deadline is to sort through the young talent on St. Louis's roster and find more players to build around. That includes the likes of Drew Rom, who has now received two starts and improved over the weekend. John Mozeliak is aware this isn't the Cards final form, and that's why he believes it unfair to judge or blame Marmol for their on-field faults.
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Cliff Williams of Redbird Rants suggested that Marmol does deserve some blame for the team's faults this season, though much of it is on the coaching staff the front office assembled to help Marmol.
"The Cardinals have the youngest manager in all of MLB who was completely out-coached in the playoffs, coming back for his second year. He just lost his bench coach, hitting coach, and the pitching coach. When they did find a bench coach he quit after two months. This used to be a team that coaches and players wanted to come to and be a part of," Williams wrote.
It's easy to forget just how young Marmol is. In many ways, he's learning on the job, but doesn't have veteran coaching minds to avoid some bumps in the road. That is on Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office, which should have known better.