With the St. Louis Cardinals promoting bench coach Oliver Marmol to manager, how will that affect the team’s chances of bringing back Albert Pujols?
The St. Louis Cardinals shocked the world when they fired manager Mike Shildt over philosophical differences with the organization. The team did not have to look outside for their new manager, as they announced on Monday that bench coach Oliver Marmol will be promoted to that position.
With Marmol’s hiring, that brings some stability to the team that did make it to the NL Wild Card game this season. But what will it mean when it comes to the team potentially bringing back fan favorite and veteran slugger Albert Pujols?
How will Oliver Marmol hire affect Cardinals chances of re-signing Albert Pujols?
Well, that is a hard question to answer. Marmol had been with the Cardinals organization since the team selected him in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Draft. After playing his final game in 2010, Marmol made the transition to coaching and worked his way up to Mike Matheny’s staff in 2017. He would become bench coach after Shildt was promoted to replace Matheny as manager.
Pujols, of course, was selected in the 13th round by the Cardinals in the 1999 MLB Draft and played all the way up until the 2011 World Series, in which he hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy for the second time of his career. After the Fall Classic, Pujols signed a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
Earlier this year, Pujols was waived by the Angels and went on to join the Dodgers shortly afterwards. The Dodgers were eliminated in six games in the NLCS by the Atlanta Braves. Now, baseball fans are wondering if this will be the end of Pujols’ career, or if he decides to return for one more season.
When it comes to Pujols returning to St. Louis, who the manager is probably won’t play a factor in the decision. Pujols’ longtime teammates in Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright recently signed contract extensions to return for the 2022 season. That could be enough for Pujols to play one last year with the Cardinals before deciding to retire.