The change from John Mozeliak to Chaim Bloom marks the beginning of a new era in Cardinals baseball in many respects. It will be a change for the better, hopefully leading to a return to consistent World Series contention.
You’ll pardon me, though, if I can’t help but worry if Oli Marmol, the manager of the Cardinals, will spend the entire season hearing footsteps from the past.
The Padres’ announcement last week that Craig Stammen will take over as manager essentially puts a stop to Albert Pujols’ prospects of managing a team in 2026. Albert can’t be that desperate, even though the Colorado Rockies are technically still searching for a new manager. Correct? Now that the possibility of Albert and Yadier Molina (as bench coach) joining forces in San Diego is no longer a possibility, the next issue naturally arises.
Instead, will the two get back together in Cardinals red the following season?
I wrote about how this offseason deserved to be one of gratitude for Marmol just a few days ago. I believe it’s time to reevaluate because he has suffered a lot over the past few years, especially from me.
However, you can’t hold it against Cardinals supporters who hope that either Albert or Yadi, or both, will take over in 2026. Even though Chaim Bloom has praised Marmol as manager, he wasn’t ultimately hired by him.
The Cardinals are also not anticipated to compete in the upcoming season (and possibly for years to come). Regardless of who is at fault, how much criticism will Bloom actually receive if he fires a manager who has had two winning records, one playoff participation, and zero playoff victories in five years, assuming the Cardinals perform as anticipated next season?
How tempting will it be for Bloom or ownership to want to make the splash of appointing a former Redbird legend to manage, even though he had also said all the right things about moving forward with an eye toward the future? Do you want to make an impending rebuild less painful? It would be a simple marketing ploy to have Yadi or Albert (or, once more, both!) make the decisions from the dugout.
Would Marmol be treated fairly in that way? No.
Would that be wise? That is up for debate. Since my dog is named Yadi, I’m a huge admirer of Albert and Yadi, and their baseball prowess and competitive spirit are undeniable. Would that, however, inevitably lead to success as a big league manager? And do they really want to enter what appears to be a multi-year reconstruction? It’s also reasonable to question how long the honeymoon period would last in the event that the rebuild takes longer than expected.
Look, perhaps all of this is pointless. Perhaps Bloom isn’t even thinking about hiring a new manager. Or perhaps it is an option, but he has no interest in going back in time. A possible lockout following the 2026 season might make this a closed question.
However, as the upcoming season promises to concentrate on a fresh future for Cardinals baseball, let’s hope we don’t hear incessant discussion about historical legends.