Cardinals Manager Oli Marmol Sits On 'Scorching' Hot Seat With Job In Jeopardy

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol is on the hot seat for a second-straight season after leading the club to lose 91 games in 2023 and failing to reach the playoffs last year.

Marmol's first season as the Cardinals' skipper ended with St. Louis winning the 2022 National League Central title with an impressive 93-69 record. Although the franchise received help from legends Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina, the young manager deserves credit for the successful campaign.

Unfortunately, Marmol's success as St. Louis' manager was short-lived, leading many to speculate whether he'll be with the 11-time World Series champions by the end of this upcoming season.

"Oliver Marmol’s days as a favored punching bag of St. Louis sports fans could reach a fever pitch this summer, mostly because of circumstance," St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Lynn Worthy wrote Thursday afternoon. "The Cardinals manager regularly sits atop a hot seat, but this winter, that position transitioned from simmering to scorching."

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak deceived fans by telling them last fall that the franchise was entering an organizational reset. Instead of completing trades to help St. Louis rebuild this winter, Mo and the front office remained stagnant -- failing to offload any talent from the payroll.

"'The resources that are provided to him — the depth that’s provided to him — is not something that he can go out and provide on his own,' Mozeliak said of Marmol," as transcribed by Worthy. “'So he has to play the hand he’s dealt. But having the mindset that, yes, he’s going to try to make sure that all these young guys get at-bats. Even if some guys are struggling, they’re still going to get playing time. But he can’t lose his clubhouse either by not trying to win.'"

Considering that this year's Cardinals roster must compete without four-time Gold Glove defender Paul Goldschmidt, 2024 National League holds leader Andrew Kittredge and fan favorites Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, one could argue that St. Louis will struggle more this season than it did last.

Fortunately, the youth-laden Cardinals are motivated to overcome the odds stacked against them. If Marmol hopes to finish out his contract with St. Louis in 2026, this season needs to end much more positively than the two previous campaigns.

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