By the time everyone is heading home on their evening commutes, I hope that Oli Marmol is no longer the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Why front office executives and ownership are accepting major losses and not responding is beyond me, but the thing about the front office executives and ownership is that they can be (and are) one move away from winning back the fans. That move is relieving Marmol of his duties and putting someone in his place to move forward to put some glimmer of hope into a fan base that’s considered the best in the major leagues.
Those major losses came last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks 14-1; last Saturday, April 20, against the Milwaukee Brewers 12-5; and against one of the worst teams in baseball right now, the Miami Marlins, April 7, 10-3.
Seriously, how many times does a team have to lose like this and have constant horrible in-game decisions made by Marmol before the powers that be act accordingly for the betterment of the team, the fan base and — let’s use a magic word here — business?
I don’t see the team bringing in the man fans really want at the helm, Yadier Molina, but anyone other than Marmol at this point is worth it — and there are plenty of options to choose from on the current coaching staff and in the farm system.
First base coach Stubby Clapp was a player and has been interviewed for MLB managerial positions in the past, and he’s also been a manager in the minor leagues. Same with third base coach Pop Warner. He worked his way up the managerial ladder in the Cardinals system from Single-A all the way to Triple-A before being promoted to the big club.
Even current Triple-A Memphis Redbirds manager Ben Johnson would suffice. He’s working with young players so they can get to and stay at the big league level, why not him? The Cardinals are an overall young team, so why not bring him up to have players he’s coached before and a few veterans with leadership skills under his wing? Johnson is also a former major league player with the San Diego Padres and New York Mets.
The St. Louis Blues did just that this past season. Heck, they fired a beloved coach in Craig Berube — the man who lead the team to its first Stanley Cup — brought up minor league manager Drew Bannister and came within eight points of making the playoffs. Would that have happened under Berube this year? The way things were going, probably not. Which is why an in-season managerial change can make all the difference.
