By Rob Rains
JUPITER, Fla. – Oli Marmol has managed Cardinals’ teams loaded with future Hall of Famers and All Stars, from Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina to Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Wainwright and more.
On Sunday, flush with a new two-year contract extension, Marmol said the transition to a younger team has him more excited about the upcoming season than any of the previous four years he has managed the team.
“A lot of it has to do with the guys that are in that clubhouse,” Marmol said. “You actually get to build it with them and create a framework that they start to operate within but make it their own.
“When you start to see the couple of weeks we’ve been here, to see guys step up the way we have, man it fires me up. That’s what gets me up every morning is being able to see that through.”
The Cardinals announced at a press conference Sunday that Marmol had signed the extension, running through 2028, with a club option for the 2029 season. His previous contract had been set to expire after this season.
Chaim Bloom, president of baseball operations, told a room filled with players, coaches and front office staff – as well as media members – that he also thought the fit between Marmol and the organization’s focus on younger players will be a positive combination for the Cardinals.
Bloom said he used his two years working with the organization before taking over as the president to get to know and build a relationship with Marmol.
“That really for me was a blessing and part of this unique situation that had so many benefits,” Bloom said, “obviously getting to know him and get to know him as a person and as a baseball person without the context of this job.
“It allowed for a lot of free-flowing conversations and he was a big part of what we were doing as I was overseeing what we did in player development and performance, helping craft the vision, interviewing candidates and recruiting candidates, involved deeply in a lot of what we’re building there.”
Marmol saw his relationship with Bloom building over the last two years as well.
“There’s been some very direct and honest conversations as to where we’re at but how we need to change some things to get to where we’re headed,” Marmol said.
Marmol said it boils down to a question of trust and alignment.
“I thank you Bill (DeWitt) and Chaim for the trust,” Marmol said. “I don’t take that lightly. I think that word gets thrown around quite a bit in today’s world but all good relationships are based off of it, good decisions are based off of it and I’m glad I had the last couple of years to start to build that with Chaim in order to get to this point.
“At the end of the day when there is transition like this alignment matters a lot. I can say with 100 percent certainty that there is a ton of trust and alignment in what we are doing. There’s alignment in how we see the game. There’s alignment in how we view the staff and just people and process. That’s the part that gets me excited.”
Speaking directly to the players sitting in the room, Marmol said they were the biggest reason why he wanted to stay in his current position.
“Seeing some of you young guys actually stepping into leadership roles and owning that clubhouse and taking the next step in your career, being able to do it together, I want to grow with you and I want to win with you and we’re going to do that together.,” Marmol said. “That’s the one thing I am looking forward to.”
Marmol’s background was in player development before he was hired as the Cardinals’ manager before the 2022 season. He spent five years as a minor-league manager in the system, following four years as a player, before joining the major-league coaching staff in 2017.
His career record as the Cardinals’ manager is two games above .500 at 325-323.
“Over time there is refinement in all of us,” Marmol said. “I feel like there are things you go through, in each one of those years … What you learn in all of those situations, the one thing I cling to, is what I will continue to cling to and anchor to, is to treat people the right way. You treat your staff with a level of respect that makes them want to show up and compete every day. You cling to making sure the players feel you have their back. Those things hold over time.”
That won’t change going forward, he said.
“I feel like I’m built exactly for this moment in Cardinals history,” Marmol said. “I feel like our staff is. A lot of us came up through the system. The combination of young guys stepping into leadership roles and coming alongside of them and helping them see what is possible for themselves is something I am passionate about.
“It’s actually a perfect match.”
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