The honeymoon is over.
New Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol got the gig of a lifetime, but it comes with a caveat. There is no honeymoon period. There is no “let’s let him find his way into the job, and hopefully in a couple of years, it’ll pay off.” The St. Louis Cardinals must win the National League Central in 2022. And frankly, if they don’t win the pennant, then they blew ’22. Everything sets up for the Cardinals to return to glory. Marmol must take them there.
He knows it.
He wants the pressure — and that’s impressive.
“Expectations for this organization has always been the same — to win a World Series,” said Marmol, 35, who was introduced Monday via a Zoom news conference as the new skipper, replacing close friend Mike Shildt. “Losing in the wild-card game or losing in the (National League Championship Series) was no different. Sure you have a little bit more pride and we made it further, but at the end of the day, a championship is the goal, and anything less than that is a disappointment. This year in 2022 is no different. We will prepare in a way to take our shot at a championship, and anything less than that will be disappointment.”
His two predecessors made the NLCS in their first full seasons as Cardinals manager. And yes, both Mike Matheny and Shildt were ultimately fired by the folks who hired them. And Marmol acknowledged Monday that the reality is this arrangement usually ends in “divorce” ... and that “there'll be a day where it's my turn.”
Time is of the essence. But the essence of this time around is alignment between the front office and manager. After the 2021 season, things got bad between Shildt and John Mozeliak, the president of baseball operations. It is interesting to wonder: What if the Cards had won the wild-card game? What if they won the pennant? Would the Shildt-Mozeliak offseason clashing still have happened, or would they have been blinded by the bling of their championship rings to not see their differences as hindrances?
As for the Marmol hiring, at first it seemed surprising to promote Shildt’s closest confidant. It was the elephant on the Zoom. I thought Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker would be a great fit — he’s a champion and a beloved Cardinal with a radiant personality. I still think Skip will be a strong skipper someday, somewhere. But both Marmol and “Mo” did their best Monday to say that Marmol is his own man, his own thinker. He’s not Shildt. And he’s not a “Mo” marionette.
Well, the pressure is on Marmol to navigate all of that. Oh, and to beat the Brewers a bunch.
I like Marmol. I enjoy chatting with him, about both baseball and life. And people around the organization speak passionately about his passion. Perhaps the most-telling quote about Marmol was from Shildt himself, back in 2019: “We talk and share our minds together. The good thing of many that I appreciate about ‘Oli’ is he's not going to tell me ‘yes’ because he thinks I need to hear it. He's going to tell me what I need to hear, he's going to offer his opinion, he's going to support it, it's going to be well thought out. And I really appreciate that. He's a really good baseball man.”
So yes, he is his own man. And his own baseball man. And now he’s the manager. He’ll succeed if he does two things: win and have synergy with the front office. If both don’t happen, we’ll be writing about the next bench coach promoted. If both do happen — well, that’s what is supposed to happen. You’re the St. Louis Cardinals. You’ve put together a blend of burgeoning rising stars with superstars burning to play late into October. You’ve cracked the postseason the past three years and now have most guys back, in addition to the healthy return of Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Jordan Hicks. And there is money to spend on Corey Seager. Go get Corey Seager.
There indeed is pressure on the front office, too. Can’t come in second on every free agent this winter because you can’t come in second in the division. There will have to be some uncomfortable talks about splurging. Shortstop Edmundo Sosa was a fine player last season for stretches. Paul DeJong has some pop. Still, of all the National League teams, the Cardinals were 11th in OPS from the shortstop position. We saw how deep these lineups were of the final four teams in the league championship series. Seager would bring production to the position.
In the coming weeks, we’ll find out more about Marmol. We’ll learn about his mentors and his mantras. Perhaps he’ll share some more analysis about analytics — clearly, the guy is all in on data, and that’s a good thing. But as of now, the one thing we know is there won’t be a honeymoon. There’s no forgiveness period. Grace is just the last name of an old Cubs player.
