Now is not the time for the Cardinals to hire a new manager
I know this is the minority opinion, but let me explain.
It only takes a quick look at the social media posts and listening to every sports station in St. Louis, to find a common theme. Not only does someone need to be fired, they need to be fired now. Cardinal Nation has every right to be feeling this way, but that is the wrong thing to do.
If the Cardinals replace Marmol, will the new manager get this team to the playoffs? FanGraphs gives the Cardinals a 9.5 percent chance of a wild card birth and a .6% chance of winning the World Series. Those are long odds for even the best manager.
It is time to realize this team is a mess. We have already seen several articles written about who the next manager should be. A new manager is not the solution.
The team can put a new face out there that may have some new ideas, but that will not fix the underlying problems this team has. There are many. The Cardinals rank near the bottom of every offensive stat. The defense has slipped, and the starters are average. The Cardinals’ farm system ranks 23rd according to MLB.com and they have only 3 prospects ranked in the top 100. The prospects that make it to the big league team keep getting sent back down.
Firing Marmol is reactionary. From the outside, the Cardinals seem to not have a plan. There is no identity. No vision. Are they a young team, or an old team? Do they consider more than a year ahead? This year, somehow, they got themselves into a position to replace 60% of their starting pitchers. Guess what? The only players with a contract for next year are Contreras, Arenado, Gray, Mikolas, and Matz. Everyone else will be a free agent, have options, or will seek arbitration.
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