The St. Louis Cardinals are set to bring manager Oliver Marmol back for the 2026 season. The Cardinals have not reached the postseason since 2022 — which happened to be Marmol's first year as the team's manager. From 2023-2025, St. Louis has only finished with a winning record once. In 2025, the Cardinals earned only 78 wins en route to another campaign without reaching the postseason.
Rumors of Marmol's possible departure swirled as a result. Would three consecutive seasons without reaching the playoffs be enough for the team to consider a change? Well, as mentioned, the Cardinals decided to bring back the manager and give him another opportunity.
Cardinals believe in Olivier Marmol as the manager
Before we get into why the Cardinals made the right decision, let's take a look at what president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said about Marmol, via KMOX Sports.
“When I was in town, I'd get together with him,” Bloom said. “Sometimes I'd pop in the office. But sometimes we'd get together away from the field and just talk baseball. Talk about the club. Pick his brain. I wanted him to know, ‘Look, I'm gonna be here for you. I will be available if there's anything you want from me, you need my opinion, you wanna know how I feel about something, I'll be here. But I'm not gonna try to run interference on what you're doing.
“And through that, we were able to talk about a lot of things. Build a good relationship. We get deeper in the summer and now, as we're getting closer to the transition, I start talking to him about how I'm seeing things, where I think we need to go and how I think we need to get there. And just felt a lot of alignment there. So, at the end of the day, those things are so important.”
The Cardinals want a manager who can lead the way. Bloom and St. Louis clearly have confidence in Marmol.
“It's obviously a relationship that grows over time, where you build trust over time. But in terms of feeling like we are aligned in where we need to go, I think that's there. And I've been impressed just by how these guys play for him and how the group has responded to his leadership.”
Marmol has had ups and downs, but St. Louis is hopeful that he can turn things around soon.
Yes, it is the right decision… For now
There was certainly an argument to be had for moving on from Marmol. He has missed the postseason in three of his four years as manager, and has endured two losing seasons as well. However, Marmol seems to have the trust of his players. Additionally, St. Louis' underperformance in 2025 was not all his fault.
The Cardinals' pitching was far from ideal this past season. They recorded a 4.29 ERA — a mark that was good for 21st in the big leagues. The starting pitching was especially inconsistent.
If the ball club can bring in a more reliable all-around starting rotation, the team's overall performance will improve. It's difficult to blame all of the pitching woes on Marmol.
If the Cardinals continue to struggle over the next couple of seasons, moving on from the manager will emerge as a legitimate option. For now, trusting Marmol is the correct decision, however.
