Cardinals Manager Oli Marmol On 'Hot Seat' As Unpredictable 2025 Season Approaches

Some think St. Louis is headed in the wrong direction

Sep 18, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol (37) argues with umpire DJ Reyburn (17) after he was ejected from the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals, after firing San Diego Padres manager Mike Schildt in 2021, placed their confidence in former first base and bench coach Oli Marmol.

After logging an impressive 93-69 record while winning the National League Central title in his first year as the Cardinals manager in 2022, Marmol has failed to return the 11-time World Series champions to the postseason.

It's safe to say Marmol's tenure as the Cardinals skipper has been rough. Could this be the year St. Louis moves on and fires the 38-year-old manager?

"If you look at the various public-facing projection systems, there's a real chance this Cardinals team manages a winning season," CBS Sports' R.J. Anderson wrote Thursday when listing managers who could be on the "'hot seat'" after this upcoming season ends. "Still, I'm including Marmol because there are some forces working against him retaining this gig beyond 2025. He's entering his penultimate contracted year, a fancy way of saying that he could achieve lame-duck status ahead of the 2026 season if he doesn't earn an extension first."

Under Marmol's leadership, the Cardinals finished with their worst record (71-91) in 33 years two seasons ago, missed a National League Wild Card spot in 2024 by six games and fell 10 out of first place in their division.

"The catch is that the Cardinals are in the process of transitioning executive power over to Chaim Bloom, and it's only fair to think he may want his own hire in place in the dugout," Anderson continued. "Who knows. I think that, of anyone else named here, Marmol has the greatest potential variability." 

After leading his team to missing the postseason by a long shot two years in a row, Marmol could be headed for his final season as the Cardinals manager.

There's no telling how 2025 will pan out for St. Louis and its youth-laden big-league roster. If youngsters such as Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar step up their game this season, perhaps Marmol will make it to the final year of his contract in 2026.

Otherwise, it's tough to imagine Bloom beginning his reign as the Cardinals' new baseball boss with a manager who has struggled to succeed. Perhaps a St. Louis legend could be next to lead the franchise back to dominance.

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