STLtoday.com

CorneliusWolfe wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 10:40 am

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 10:28 am

Stlcardsblues wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 09:32 am

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 08:34 am Here for the implosion.

Same. The fanbase always take the hate for the manager to an unwarranted extreme. It’s been that way since I started reading this board.

They paid to fly a fire LaRussa flag over the field in spring training. Definitely rational people.

Rational, result-based, and philosophical reasonings have been given as to why many of us aren’t Marmol fans and don’t think he deserves an extension. Not hatred or some long lost love for TLR.

But you two can keep ignoring us and fluffing each other if it makes you feel better.

And they have seven more months of baseball to do it.

We are in the OIL business now?

Don't care for the extension but if they didn't fire him prior to this season I can understand why they did it.

When a ballplayer goes into a season without a contract for the following year it can become a distraction. It can be the same for a manager and trickle down to the coaching staff. Always looking over your shoulder with Yadi rumors among other things can mute any authority Marmol may have with players and staff.

People say no manager worth his salt would come here but that's not true.

Francona wound up in Cincinnati of all places and the idea is establishing a winning culture and accountability. When it starts and with what roster doesn't matter.

We saw last year how that has already paid dividends.

11WSChamps wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:34 am Don't care for the extension but if they didn't fire him prior to this season I can understand why they did it.

When a ballplayer goes into a season without a contract for the following year it can become a distraction. It can be the same for a manager and trickle down to the coaching staff. Always looking over your shoulder with Yadi rumors among other things can mute any authority Marmol may have with players and staff.

People say no manager worth his salt would come here but that's not true.

Francona wound up in Cincinnati of all places and the idea is establishing a winning culture and accountability. When it starts and with what roster doesn't matter.

We saw last year how that has already paid dividends.

Good post regarding Francona willing to go to the Reds . An example of a good veteran manager willing to go to a young team that has been struggling.

STL Cardinal Fan 24 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:31 am We are in the OIL business now?

I didn’t catch that until you pointed it out. Stupid autocorrect

ramfandan wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:40 am

11WSChamps wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:34 am Don't care for the extension but if they didn't fire him prior to this season I can understand why they did it.

When a ballplayer goes into a season without a contract for the following year it can become a distraction. It can be the same for a manager and trickle down to the coaching staff. Always looking over your shoulder with Yadi rumors among other things can mute any authority Marmol may have with players and staff.

People say no manager worth his salt would come here but that's not true.

Francona wound up in Cincinnati of all places and the idea is establishing a winning culture and accountability. When it starts and with what roster doesn't matter.
If they believe he is the one to lead such a team they would have given him 5 years
We saw last year how that has already paid dividends.

Good post regarding Francona willing to go to the Reds . An example of a good veteran manager willing to go to a young team that has been struggling.

Francona realized that the Reds had some mlb ready talent including top notch young pitching which is why he took the job.Much further along then the Cards are now. This tells me Bloom doesn’t expect to be a true contender for at least 3 years.
If they thought he was the one to lead such a team they would have extended him 5 years.

Cardinals Extend Oli Marmol

DUMB!

45s wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 09:28 am

Mort Gage wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 09:08 am

45s wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 08:51 am

ScotchMIrish wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 08:42 am I don't understand why they would do that. Did they think some other team would hire him away? Did they think this will excite the fans who stopped attending games?

don't discount the possibility that bloom shopped the job and few were interested..

marmol might be the best they can do

Doubtful. The Cardinals are an iconic franchise. A new manager would have been given plenty of slack in a rebuild so it wouldn't have been overly stressful. And there are only a handful of managerial openings each winter.

I know many want to cling to the "iconic, legendary, historic" days.....but respectfully those days are gone....

at this point it's a poorly run organization in a small market

baseball is a small fraternity....every organizational flaw that is discussed daily on this board is well known in that community

they may not be lining up to go to stl

as I said....it's just a possibility....

MLB manager openings are few, and the Cardinals have been addressing their organizational shortcomings. This would be a great place for an ambitious manager to make his mark. Aspiring managers don't turn down limited opportunities. The sentimental iconic stuff is icing on the cake.

dugoutrex wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 10:36 am

alw80 wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 10:34 am

dugoutrex wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 10:31 am bloom loves oli

And that should be reason enough to give Olinthe benefit of the doubt.

or realize that Mr Bloom is just mo2.0

This offseason hes made it very clear that hes not Mo2.0.

I was this close to purchasing the cardinals app and was even considering buying tix to a handful of games for the first time in years --- this puts all of that on hold for certain. Nothing like throwing water on the excitement of seeing young players by making this move, if i am wrong i will reconsider as the season progresses. I am sure they don't give a rats (bleep) about me, but i wonder how many others like me are out there?

kyace wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:47 am

ramfandan wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:40 am

11WSChamps wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:34 am Don't care for the extension but if they didn't fire him prior to this season I can understand why they did it.

When a ballplayer goes into a season without a contract for the following year it can become a distraction. It can be the same for a manager and trickle down to the coaching staff. Always looking over your shoulder with Yadi rumors among other things can mute any authority Marmol may have with players and staff.

People say no manager worth his salt would come here but that's not true.

Francona wound up in Cincinnati of all places and the idea is establishing a winning culture and accountability. When it starts and with what roster doesn't matter.
If they believe he is the one to lead such a team they would have given him 5 years
We saw last year how that has already paid dividends.

Good post regarding Francona willing to go to the Reds . An example of a good veteran manager willing to go to a young team that has been struggling.

Francona realized that the Reds had some mlb ready talent including top notch young pitching which is why he took the job.Much further along then the Cards are now. This tells me Bloom doesn’t expect to be a true contender for at least 3 years.
If they thought he was the one to lead such a team they would have extended him 5 years.

But at some point they'll have to increase payroll to fill in the gaps and the Reds have not historically done that.

With Pujols and Molina both wanting to be managers this was not necessary and foolish.
Bloom first big mistake in my opinion.

greyhawk wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 12:11 pm I was this close to purchasing the cardinals app and was even considering buying tix to a handful of games for the first time in years --- this puts all of that on hold for certain. Nothing like throwing water on the excitement of seeing young players by making this move, if i am wrong i will reconsider as the season progresses. I am sure they don't give a rats (bleep) about me, but i wonder how many others like me are out there?

lots of us have never been LESS excited for the start of a new season - maybe this is how pirates fans have felt for years but now even they are better than us

TheFantasyStud wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 12:21 pm With Pujols and Molina both wanting to be managers this was not necessary and foolish.
Bloom first big mistake in my opinion.

+1 I’ve liked blooms moves so far but this one sucks. Oli is a paint by numbers manager and not a leader.

ScotchMIrish wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 09:30 am

Melville wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 08:52 am

ScotchMIrish wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 08:42 am I don't understand why they would do that. Did they think some other team would hire him away? Did they think this will excite the fans who stopped attending games?

As I have explained were perfect insight and clarity previously, DeWitt treasures loyalty above all things.
The Marmot was hired for one reason only: he has worked for the Cardinals since he was a child and will do and say exactly what he is told.
Whatever the ownership group and POBO decide, The Marmot will put on his skirt and cheerlead the plan.
That is why he was hired.
It is why he is still employed.

Matheny was loyal and he was much better than Marmol.

Matheny had not worked for the Cardinals since childhood.
The Marmot has.
That matters to DeWitt.

Talkin' Baseball wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:04 am

blackinkbiz wrote: ↑01 Mar 2026 11:02 am Because a lockout of some length is almost guaranteed for 2027 and the organization is in a total rebuild, this doesn't bother me as much as it did 2 years ago.

I really like Oli as a person and a guy. My detest is based purely upon performance and decision-making. But if the team is trying to cut cost uncertainty wherever they can until it's certain they're on the upswing and out of rebuilding, I guess Oli's as good a manager as any other cheap nobody.

Still missing it. They aren't stuck with Oli. They aren't settling for Oli. They aren't making do with Oli. They LIKE Oli.

I'm not missing it one bit. They don't like Oli; they clearly LOVE the freaking guy. There's no other reason they'd give an unknown with 0 experience the job, then an extension to relieve pressure (still can't believe that one), and now an additional extension with an option when the guy's had one of the worst managerial records in the org's history.

But the fans won't stand for it if, once the lockout is said and done and the Cards are back on the upswing and SHOULD be making the playoffs, if Oli's performance and decision making are still hurting the team, fans have already shown they won't support a chit show.

I'm just saying, while we're enduring the current atmosphere, from a fan's perspective, he's really as good a choice as any other guy until the CBA's behind us and they're ready for prime time.