MLB insider Jon Heyman names 2 Cardinals legends as potential candidates to replace Oli Marmol
The St. Louis Cardinals may follow the Chicago White Sox and the Seattle Mariners in letting go of their underachieving manager. Despite getting talented players like Tommy Pham and Erick Fedde at the trade deadline, the Redbirds still find themselves out of postseason contention, with one analyst feeling manager Oli Marmol could join the likes of Scott Servais and Pedro Grifol.
There's a good chance the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves will claim the NL wild-card berths. The Cardinals are 5.0 games outside of the last spot with just over a month remaining.
The NY Post's Jon Heyman believes the front office could pivot to two former Cardinals legends for managerial roles if St. Louis doesn't make the postseason.
"It’s an average team playing average baseball, an improvement. Are front office changes also possible? Two great potential manager replacements: Cardinals legend Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker," Heyman wrote.
Do these former Cardinals have managerial experience?
One of Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker may be the best people to lead the Cardinals ahead, fans would say. Both have played for the club during their time as players and also won the World Series with St. Louis in 2011.
Schumaker, the former outfielder, played from 2005 to 2012, while Molina, a former catcher, played his entire major league career with the Cards, starting from 2004 until 2022. During this time, he won two World Series (2006 and 2011) and earned 10 All-Star selections.
On the managerial front, Schumaker has been leading the Miami Marlins since 2023, while also earning the NL Manager of the Year title in 2023. At Marlins, he doesn't have a lot to play with to seek a postseason spot, but in St. Louis, he has the potential to turn around the franchise.
As far as Molina is concerned, though he doesn't have experience managing a major league club, he has managed Puerto Rico's U-23 baseball team, which participated in the 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup.
After his retirement in 2022, he went on to manage the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. He led them to a 29-27 regular-season finish. The same year, he was also named to manage the Puerto Rico national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Mexico.
Last year, under his leadership, he led the Criollos de Caguas to the 2023–24 Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League title in Puerto Rico and the 2024 Caribbean Series.