Reports have surfaced that the St. Louis Cardinals will name bench coach Oliver Marmol as the team's new manager. An official announcement is expected tomorrow, the day before the beginning of the 2021 World Series.
Marmol's hiring comes a week and a half after the Cardinals abruptly fired Mike Shildt despite making the post-season three years in a row. At 35, Marmol would become the youngest manager in MLB. Not only that but he is younger than current Cardinals pitchers Adam Wainwright, Jon Lester and JA Happ as well as infielder Matt Carpenter and catcher Yadier Molina who is entering the final year of his big league career.
Marmol has spent his entire professional career with the Cardinals' organization who drafted him as a player in 2007. In 2011, Marmol became a minor league hitting coach before spending the next five seasons as a minor league manager. The Cardinals promoted him to the big club in 2017 naming him the first base coach while Mike Matheny was still managing the club. In 2019, Marmol was promoted to bench coach under Shildt.
It will be interesting to see what kind of contract Marmol receives. What happens to Marmol if the Cardinals don't make the post-season in 2022 after making the post-season three straight seasons under Shildt? Then again maybe the Cardinals will attain full flight under Marmol.
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