Cardinals set to announce Oliver Marmol as next manager

Marmol, 35, will become the youngest manager in the majors. He was believed to be the leading internal candidate to replace former manager Mike Shildt.

By Derrick Goold and Ben Frederickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

October 25, 2021 at 3:13AM

HOUSTON - A Cardinals draft pick who retired his glove and rose rapidly through the organization as a coach will be named manager Monday morning and become the only manager in the majors still in his 30s.

Oliver Marmol will be introduced as the next manager of the Cardinals, multiple sources confirmed to the Post-Dispatch on Sunday night. The team has announced a news conference for Monday morning to introduce Marmol as the 51st manager in club history.

Marmol, 35, will become the youngest manager in the majors, and the next closest just recently celebrated his 40th birthday. Marmol was believed to be the leading internal candidate to replace former manager Mike Shildt after the Cardinals fired Shildt on October 14, citing what President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak called "philosophical differences." Shildt's firing came after three consecutive seasons with a postseason appearance and a 90-win season in 2021 that ended in a wild-card playoff loss to the Dodgers.

While offering few details on what they were looking for in their next manager, Mozeliak stressed internal options would be strongly considered in the search for a manager who was on the same page as the front office moving forward. The Cardinals selected Marmol in the sixth round in the 2007 draft. The person who scouted and signed him was also working his way up the ranks of the organization as a coach, and would soon zoom toward the majors.

His name? Mike Shildt.

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Derrick Goold and Ben Frederickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch