By the end of the season, Ken Rosenthal predicted that Oliver Marmol, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, might be fired.
Fans and commentators have been wondering about Oli Marmol’s future for months as the St. Louis Cardinals manager’s contract is about to expire.
As manager, Oli Marmol has a 254–247 record, which translates to a.507 winning percentage. He guided the Cardinals to a 93-69 record in 2022, which was his greatest season. However, he had a dismal 71-91 record in 2023. Under his direction, the Cardinals have just once advanced to the postseason, and that year they were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card round.
Marmol is currently on the hot seat because of his unsatisfactory term as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ken Rosenthal lists St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol as someone whose job is in question.
Ken Rosenthal highlighted Oli Marmol and eight other managers who could be sacked by the conclusion of the season in his article for The Athletic. Rosenthal particularly brought up the leadership shift that will take place at the end of the 2025 season when discussing Marmol’s future with the team. Marmol’s contract extension, which expires this year, also ends at the same time as this leadership shift.
“The Cardinals are in an odd place, using the 2025 season to transition from John Mozeliak to Chaim Bloom as their head of baseball operations,” Rosenthal states. “Mozeliak’s contract with Marmol is valid until ’26. It makes sense that Bloom would prefer to have his own men. However, who?
In the event that Chaim Bloom changes his mind next season, Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, and Skip Schumaker are the three most likely contenders to replace Marmol. Schumaker has even been a member of the coaching staff, having served as Marmol’s bench coach in 2022. All three are former Cardinals. Only Skip Schumaker, out of the three, has managerial experience in Major League Baseball. In 2023, Skip was the manager of the Miami Marlins.
In the meantime, Molina and Pujols have both had great success abroad in the Caribbean Series (Molina and Pujols), the Dominican Winter League (Molina and Pujols), and the World Baseball Classic (Molina). The Dominican Republic’s Leones del Escogido won the Caribbean Series most recently under Albert Pujols’ leadership.
In his article, Rosenthal talks extensively about Skip Schumaker, and he even goes so far as to suggest that Oli Marmol might remain on his staff in some capacity if Skip is named manager in 2026. This would put four former Cardinals on the same coaching staff: Schumaker, Marmol, Daniel Descalso, and Jon Jay. I’ve even suggested keeping Marmol on staff if he is fired during the season.
Oli’s chances of getting sacked throughout the season are probably low. The organization is now in a transitional phase. It would be damaging to the development of several important young people to switch managers in the middle of a youth movement. Putting a massive collapse aside, the organization would be better off letting Marmol finish the season and, if Bloom thinks it’s worth it, hiring a new manager in the offseason.
It’s possible that Oli Marmol may be fired by the end of the year because he has been on the hot seat for a few years. He might have gained enough favor with Chaim Bloom and the new front management to stay in charge in 2026 if he can guide the Cardinals to the postseason in his last contract year.
