The Cardinals and manager Oli Marmol have agreed to a two-year contract extension, according to a report from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Marmol was entering the final year of his contract in 2026 but now figures to remain in St. Louis for the 2027 and ’28 seasons, with a club option for 2029. The Cardinals have subsequently announced Marmol’s new deal.
It’s the second extension Marmol has signed with the Cardinals. The 39-year-old initially took over as manager in St. Louis following Mike Shildt’s dismissal in October of 2021. Marmol’s first season as manager saw the Cardinals romp to a division title with a 93-win season thanks primarily to MVP-caliber performances from both Paul Goldschmidt (who won the award in the NL) and Nolan Arenado (who finished third). Unfortunately, the Cardinals were delivered a quick exit by the Phillies in the Wild Card round that year and went home that October without winning a single playoff game.
The end of the 2022 campaign also marked the end of longtime franchise face Yadier Molina‘s playing career, and Molina’s departure ushered in a transitory period in Cardinals baseball. While the club added an impactful bat behind the plate in Willson Contreras, pitchers in St. Louis struggled to adapt to life after the nine-time Gold Glover they had grown accustomed to working with. Meanwhile, both Goldschmidt and Arenado regressed in a big way, and injuries to key players like Brendan Donovan and Tyler O’Neill left the Cardinals to tumble from the top of the NL Central all the way to the bottom with a 91-loss campaign. In the years since, the Cards haven’t done much better. 2024 saw the franchise get just barely back over .500 with an 83-79 record that left them tied for second place in the NL Central standings, but the team fell right back below .500 in 2025.
Difficult as Marmol’s tenure in St. Louis has been, management and ownership clearly do not lay the organization’s struggles at his feet. They signed him to a two-year extension prior to the 2024 campaign, the last year of which he’ll manage the team on this year, and even after John Mozeliak retired and new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom took over, both Bloom and team ownership have expressed confidence in Marmol in the run-up to today’s extension.
It’s understandable why the team would choose to stick with Marmol despite a lack of on-field success. The Cardinals have saddled Marmol with a stagnant and aging roster for the majority of his time with the organization. Outside of deals for Contreras and Sonny Gray (both of whom were traded to the Red Sox this past offseason), St. Louis has made relatively minimal efforts to improve the roster via trades and free agency in recent years, instead banking on internal developments that haven’t come to fruition. That lack of internal development has been attributed to the organization by the team’s decision to reallocate funds that once were used for player development into fortifying the big league payroll, and over the past two years the team has started to move towards a rebuilding phase where they plan to scale back payroll and return their focus towards player development.
Given the current state of the organization, it’s understandable that the Cardinals would look to keep someone they had enough confidence in to install as MLB’s youngest manager at the time of his hire. Now headed into his fifth season as a big league manager (with a decade of coaching experience prior to that), Marmol now has plenty of experience handling young players and veterans alike and his work with last year’s Cardinals team, which lacked the win-now expectations that most seasons in St. Louis come with, will surely prove informative for the difficult task of rebuilding into a contender that the organization now faces.
In other words, we’re gonna suck for 2-3 more years, and we don’t wanna go get a real manager, until we’re ready to win. Marmol has been in over his head since day 1. The Cardinals have really gone downhill the last couple years. History is great, but reality is pretty scary in the Lou.
They aren’t going to get one then either. When have they hired one since LaRussa???
Schildt was 3rd for manager of the year in 2021, winning 90 games with a team he lead masterfully…and then Mo fired him.
Correction: Schildt was NL manager of the year in 2019, and runner up in 2021…and then Mo fired him.
My apologies.
He was hired for the same reason Matheny and Marmol were hired. Cheap and easy to control. Him and Mozaliak had that Moneyball conversation and Mo fired him.
He masterfully led them right out of the playoffs by putting Reyes in that game against the dodgers. Everyone but Schildt knew exactly how that game was going to end once Reyes came in.
Del,
Did you get that knowledge staying at the Braidwood Inn? Because that’s not a Holiday Inn Express-level insight.
Waino outpitched Scherzer IN LA in a one game playoff. It was 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th and Schildt put Reyes in even though Reyes had been awful going into the fall, giving up walk-off bombs left and right. Reyes’ body language said it all coming into that game. Schildt single-handedly lost us that game and that was a big season for the cards. He should have been fired for that call alone.
Haha hire sleepy drunk Tony then
I was just going to say “Why” but you said it better.
Came here to say exactly that.
Ha
Dynamite drop in, Monty.
That broadcasting school is really paying off
For a guy that never should have had the job to begin with, Marmol keeps getting chances that others far more capable would not get. Threw players under the bus multiple times. Given an unwarranted extension by Mozeliak. Now another by Bloom. STL will obviously not be competitive for years during their upcoming long rebuilding process. Someone has to fill out the lineup card and attempt to do post game interviews. So many better choices, yet STL keeps Marmol, a mystery.
Like young players, he is cheap and easy to control.
That’s top priority for tightwad owner, Billionaire Bill DeWallet.
I actually thought marmol did well in 2022 even though that team was carried by 2 mvp caliber players
He has been horrible since then and should’ve been fired by now
The team has been terrible since then. Not a manager‘s fault.
@budman_63755 the manager needs to manage the talent to not be terrible, Oliver, come on now, don’t throw your players under the bus
Just wanted to drop in and see Cardinal nation go nuts.
As they should.
They need to get a guy that is good with young players and gets the most out of them during the overdue rebuild.
As if Reds fans know what’s going on. You guys have sucked for decades now. Take a seat.
Bitter Cardinals fans make me laugh. Those so-called “BFIB” struggling to adjust to life cheering on an irrelevant team that’s destined to be a cellar-dweller again. Marmol is the perfect manager for that once-proud franchise.
Cubs fan here…Reds is right, his point is in no way affected by how good his team is.
I remember snotty cardinals fans talking this way to Cubs fans too…yet Chicago is relevant every year, and most of us can’t remember the last time the cards were. So…maybe your point has no validity?
lol they tanked for 5 years to build the first WS team in 100 years. how long have you watched this sport?
This guy looks like the face of the Cardinals decline and by the reactions it looks like fans think so as well.
Mozeliak is the face of the Cardinals’ decline.
Wow
This is hard to hear, but not really that surprising.
He’s gonna be there for the rebuild, then he’ll get the boot.
I thought he should have been manager of the year……(ducks bricks)
Sad day for Cardinals fans
Reminds me of when David Bell got that extension actually.
“The best fans in baseball”
LOL
Not a fan of it as we all want Molina but someone has to coach this AAA team until they can be competitive…
Molina should never be manager in STL. Many do want Molina as manager.
Other than being a former player, why do you think Molina would make a good manager? Tiger fans thought the same about Trammell.
Because he was already managing the team, without the title. AJ Pierzynski even said “I never seen a player run an organization like he did.” He will be a phenomenal manager when he decides he’s ready to commit to that, and I fully believe he would be given the shot whenever he says its time.
People see when former players have success as a manager and automatically think their all time greats are going to be a great manager. What they often fail to notice, is that the former players that wind up having success as managers, are the ones who didn’t have the hall of fame careers.
But they see a trend and fail to catch the full story of why one person winds up as a good manager and why some are there for namesake only. I’m not even saying Molina wouldn’t be a good manager. But he should absolutely coach in the minors first to see how he does. One, so they can see if he’s actually good at it. Two, so they can give him familiarity with who would be on his roster should he eventually become the big league manager.
The hall of fame caliber players are best served coaching in the minors and seeing the development side first. It’s the bench/utiity players who typically adjust to being a coach/manager faster, because they’ve likely already been studying the game from that aspect for a good part of their player days. But people often miss that aspect of players turned managers that are more successful.
Who says there isn’t tanking in baseball?
There’s no longer tanking in baseball. Years ago, tanking was a way to cut payroll and get draft picks; the current CBA doesn’t incentivize tanking, so it’s no longer a thing and hasn’t been for years.
This rebuild isn’t tanking, it’s fixing what Mo destroyed by dismantling player drafting and development staff/systems throughout the org.
There’s a new $180m, state of the art facility in Jupiter and the organization has hugely expanded its coaching and development at every level. Good things are happening, but it’s going to take a while to undo what Mozeliak screwed up.
Tanking does you no good in baseball since they went with the NBA lottery to make the large markets happy.
@This one belongs to the Reds you really need therapy if you’re this obsessed with this whole “large market vs. small market” battle in your head.
Tanking has wrongly become synonymous with rebuilding even though it’s just one method of rebuilding and is mostly seen in other sports.
I’m obviously in the minority, but I really don’t think Marmol has been a bad manager and I’m happy to see him getting an extension.
I kind of agree. When the team has an owner that refuses to spend money to improve the team, it doesn’t matter who the manager is.
Oli is fine. He’s certainly not the problem. Mo screwed this thing up, Oli has just been there to try to piece things together.
Same. He’s fine. Much bigger problems in St. Louis than the manager.
It makes no sense to hire a new manager right now, no matter what angry fans think.
I agree, he’s fine and I think it would be silly to replace him anytime soon with what the Cardinals are trying accomplish over the next few years. Outside of poorly managing the bullpen at times, I’ve grown to appreciate him.
He cost them the Philly series by believing and leaving Helsley in the game. He hasn’t improved since. Without a leader anywhere to be found on that roster, a manager‘s job becomes even more important. He’s clearly a pushover who just wants to be friends with everyone on the team.
You know nothing about who is or isn’t a leader on their team. Not that they need a leader anyway. This isn’t football. And if he wants to be friends with everyone, then why has he allegedly thrown players under the bus multiple times?
I will not allow you, nor anyone else to speak to me the way that you have. Your ignorance is clear. The ignorance that you’ve expressed to me who has been your friend for 19 years and also your ignorance when it to not understanding that leadership is vital in baseball as well as all sports. Players respect players. Players listen to players. You and I are now finished. It did not have to be this way, but unfortunately, I cannot respect myself by allowing you back into my life. Goodbye.
cost cutting and building the pipeline. This is what the game has become.
Oli Oli all come free
I know this won’t be a popular opinion but what do you expect from a team that couldn’t hit for power, no speed, poor starting pitching and couldn’t get on base. Other than that he had a playoff caliber team. He made some boneheaded statements early in his tenure but seems to have learned from that.
Last year the Cardinals were in the playoff hunt through the all star break. I didn’t like the way Shildt was fired but after his time in SD maybe he deserved the boot. You can only run out the players on your roster. There’s not a manager out there that could win with the resources he had.
It’s not a popular opinion because you’re stating the facts. The Cardinals simply don’t have the talent to contend right now. Not Marmol’s fault, he inherited an aging roster that has been systematically gutted for whatever prospects they can get in the last couple of years.
Did anyone really expect anything different in the Bloom era? The guy hurt the Red Six and will keep and will keep personnel that with hurt the Cardinals
Oof. Reminds me of when Derek Shelton was the best man to lead the Bucs forward.
not very impressed with Marmot from Day 1. two year extension sounds lousy for STL fans. Team has been lifeless and his creative energy is the force behind
Fun times for cardinals.
The rest of the NL Central thanks you!
Cards nation will have to wait until 2028 or 2029 to be good again and hire Pujols or Molina as manager
Checkin’ the boxes.
Trash franchise does it again. The rest of the Central will appreciate this extension. Enjoy the cellar worst fans in baseball, in the sewer where they should be. Except for Wetherholt this franchise is garbage from top to bottom. Love it!!
When life gives you Marmol, you just gotta make Marmolade.
Everyone acting like it’s the manager’s fault they don’t have a real competitive roster, or that managers have really anything to do with any decisions is insane to me. It has always been the front office setting the lineups and dictating on field decisions. Manager’s job is to keep the players in line. That’s it. Winning teams have everyone on the same page.
Can,
Front offices are making on-field, in-game decisions? I highly doubt that.
The game plan is given to them every day.
No it’s not understandable.
Marmol is largely awful and a net negative, but I get not wanting to make a change yet. I guess.
It just stinks that not making a change yet also means extending him so he isn’t a lame duck this year or next year. Kind of a crap situation all the way around. A lot of interviews say he has great “relationships” with players, but after O’Neill and Contreras I don’t know how much I buy that. I’ve also had enough of his “paint-by-numbers” bullpen usage.
The Cardinals love them some oli.
entertainment…. that’s what everything is about.
Y tho?