The fourth-year manager Oli Marmol has been leading the St. Louis Cardinals to success in 2025. The squad has a better-than-expected 36-31 record and is still in second place in the NL Central after going through a three-game losing streak. It would be reasonable to infer that many rival players have a positive opinion of Marmol given the Cardinals’ superior success this season. However, a story in The Athletic (subscription needed) suggests that may not be the case.
Players from all throughout the league were asked in Dennis Lin’s article whose manager, outside their own, they would not want to play under. Five out of forty players selected the Cardinals’ captain, tying Marmol for first place.
Marmol appears to be viewed in a negative light around the league
Marmol was in very bad company since the only manager who received five votes was Bud Black, who was fired after 40 games, when the Colorado Rockies were 7-33. Black had led the notoriously bad Rockies. The appearance of former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt, who now leads the San Diego Padres and tied for second place with four votes, was more unexpected.
It seems sense that even with the assurance of anonymity, respondents were reluctant to criticize other managers in the league. The Athletic gave Marmol a player quote that wasn’t very disparaging of the Cardinals’ manager because it came from a player in the division.
“I don’t really know many managers. I’m trying to think of someone in our division, just so I can say someone. Who is the Cardinals’ guy? … Yeah. Just put him down.”
Anonymous player
Putting divisional rivalries aside, one worrying feature of Marmol’s high ranking in the poll is that players communicate with one another. If any Cardinals are unhappy with Marmol, they may vent their resentment to players on other teams, which could discourage them from considering St. Louis as a potential place to play in the future.
The Cardinals’ collapse in 2023 and the subsequent repercussions may have contributed to some of the votes. The team repeatedly threw Willson Contreras under the bus and jerked him back and forth. Marmol’s public criticism of Tyler O’Neill after the outfielder appeared to not put his all into his scamper to the plate attracted the attention of a number of media members and probably opposing players.
Prior to the 2024 season, Marmol signed a two-year contract extension that will supposedly keep him in the manager’s seat until 2026. However, since Chaim Bloom is getting ready to take over the team completely the following season, it’s possible that he will make changes and bring in a manager he is more accustomed to working with. It’s doubtful that an anonymous survey would influence his choice to retain or dismiss Marmol, but if he does, it could be a wise move for the Cardinals to choose a less contentious manager in order to attract future free players to the organization.
It’s annoying that Marmol doesn’t make it clear why people might not want to play, but that’s to be expected. Fair or not, opponents’ opinions of Marmol should not be disregarded while deciding his future in the team, even when it appears that he has made the proper choices in terms of his 2025 game choices.
