MLB Roundup 10/25: Cardinals to hire Oliver Marmol as manager

Oliver Marmol to be hired as new Cardinals manager

The St. Louis Cardinals surprised a lot of people earlier this month with their abrupt decision to fire manager Mike Shildt, even after he led them on a second-half surge that ultimately pushed them into the postseason. Citing philosophical differences, general manager John Mozeliak decided to make the change, and it apparently isn’t going to take very long to name a replacement. The team has called a press conference for Monday morning where they are expected to announce the hiring of Oliver Marmol.

Marmol is an internal hiring for the Cardinals, having served as the team’s bench coach for the last three seasons. A former sixth round pick by St. Louis, he made it as far as High-A before transitioning into a coaching role in 2011. At 35 years old, he has quickly made his way up the ladder and will be the youngest manager in the majors next season. Given the philosophical differences that were easy to surmise having to do with an emphasis, or lack thereof, on analytics, a young hire is not a major surprise.

As far as a Red Sox impact here, there’s admittedly not a whole lot. I do feel as though Will Venable is an interesting name, so this in theory keeps him in the Red Sox dugout for the time being. That said, it wasn’t much of a risk here as it seems like Marmol was the target here for the Cardinals all along.