Inside The Cardinals

New Cardinals Coaching Hires Make Reunion With Former Fan Favorite Possible

The Cardinals nearly have their coaching staff set for 2025, but could make some more changes.

Curt Bishop

Sep 26, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker (45) walks back to the dugout in the seventh inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Sep 26, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker (45) walks back to the dugout in the seventh inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
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The St. Louis Cardinals have already announced that manager Oli Marmol and President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak will retain their roles for 2025. However, that doesn't mean that there won't be some more changes.

Recently, St. Louis hired Brant Brown to serve as their hitting coach and added former Cardinal outfielder Jon Jay to the staff. Willie McGee stepped into an advisory role, while former hitting coach Turner Ward was fired.

Why is that important you ask? Well, Jay recently served as the first base coach for the Miami Marlins under now-former manager Skip Schumaker, who played most of his Major League career in St. Louis and also served as their bench coach in 2022.

At the same time, Brown was Miami's hitting coach in 2023 when Schumaker took the Marlins to the postseason and earned National League Manager of the Year honors. According to John Denton of MLB.com, Brown received a "strong endorsement" from Schumaker.

This might mean that Schumaker could still be on the Cardinals radar to manage in 2025.

While Marmol was already confirmed to remain in his role, that doesn't necessarily prevent a change from occurring. Recall that after last season, the Chicago Cubs were expected to retain then-manager David Ross, only to replace him with Craig Counsell.

Schumaker obviously has strong ties to the Cardinals organization, and even though the team may be rebuilding, he would be a good fit to manage and maximize the potential of the Cardinals young core of position players.

We'll see if a similar situation to last offseason with the Cubs plays out this year.

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Curt Bishop
CURT BISHOP

Curt Bishop is a freelance sports writer who graduated from Maryville University of St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the field of Communication and currently writes as a contributor for various platforms covering Major League Baseball. Curt’s work includes covering trade and free agency predictions, as well as rumors and news.

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