An snippet of this tale appeared in John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. Go here to view the newsletter in its entirety. And sign up to receive it in your inbox on a regular basis.
Oliver Marmol, the manager of the Cardinals, is aware of the unfavorable optics and understands that if his team has a difficult start to the 2024 season, things might get even worse.
Being a big league manager comes with certain responsibilities, like having your Cardinals finish last in your division for the first time in thirty-three years after a successful season. Similar to the powerful and murky Mississippi River that flows past Busch Stadium, St. Louis’s World Series-or-bust expectations are unwavering, and this offseason, that urgency has increased even more.
Regarding optics, there is Marmol, who at 37 is still among the youngest managers in the game and has two seasons of MLB experience as a captain. One of those years was particularly successful because of Marmol’s skillful management of aging superstars Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, and Albert Pujols. The other season, which ended in 2023 with a 71-91 record, was dismal.
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