What happened behind the scenes that led the St. Louis Cardinals to fire Mike Shildt?
In a stunning move made eight days after the conclusion of their season, the St. Louis Cardinals dismissed manager Mike Shildt on Thursday, chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak announced.
“We have determined that we have a philosophical difference in the direction that our Major League club is going,” Mozeliak said. “We feel like, at this time, that it is best for us to end our partnership with Mike Shildt.”
Mozeliak said that Shildt was “dismissed,” and the club later claimed in a press release distributed to the media that the parties “agreed to part ways.”
Shildt did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
Mozeliak declined several times to characterize the nature of the philosophical difference between the parties, saying that, “where we felt the team was going, we were struggling to get on the same page.”
“Ultimately, we just felt we were at a place where we weren’t going to have a meeting of the minds,” he later added.
Shildt, Mozeliak said, was “very shocked” by the decision.
Hitting coach Jeff Albert, a lightning rod for criticism throughout his tenure in St. Louis, is under contract for 2022 and Mozeliak said he expects Albert to return. Asked if tension between Albert and Shildt led to the manager’s dismissal, Mozeliak said, “in terms of that being the sole reason for this decision, the answer is no.”
Without commenting on the manager’s relationship with the coaching staff more broadly, Mozeliak deferred comment on potential reasons for the breakdown in philosophical harmony with Shildt.
“I’m here to protect employees, I’m here to protect him,” Mozeliak said. “If he wants to discuss those with you, that’s his choice.”
Neither Mozeliak nor general manager Michael Girsch responded to a request for comment on other baseball- or staff-related issues which may have impacted the decision.
Mozeliak didn’t respond to a request for comment on other baseball- and staff-related issues which may have impacted the decision. General Manager Michael Girsch said he was unaware of any such issues.
Asked if the change was related to any potential off-field issues, Mozeliak said, “this was a baseball decision.”
The seemingly sudden development of philosophical differences with a manager who was hired in large part due to his seamless fit with the organization is reflective of the rapidly changing landscape of the sport.
“This was not a decision solely based on wins and losses,” Mozeliak said, referencing again the oblique philosophical breakup which he was loath to explain in full. “I still think our continuity is a strength, but you still have internal issues that can happen.
“And people evolve, people change, ideas change, philosophies change. Ultimately, it’s Bill’s responsibility, my responsibility to try to keep the organization going directionally where we’d like it to.”
The club held in-person end of season meetings in St. Louis last Friday, and Mozeliak described Thursday a period of “five to six days” over which the decision to move on from Shildt was reached.
Shildt had one season remaining on the contract extension which he signed in November of 2019.
The Cardinals had to seek approval from Major League Baseball to make the announcement on a day in which a winner-take-all postseason game is to be played, highlighting the sudden urgency with which they were compelled to fire their manager.
Leading the club for parts of four seasons to a 252-199 record, the Cardinals made the playoffs in each of Shildt’s three full seasons as manager and were 41-28 in the period following his taking over from Mike Matheny during the 2018.
Shildt was one of only four managers employed in the 2021 season who did not have experience as a Major League player, along with Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde, and Joe Maddon of the Los Angeles Angels.
He was also the 2019 National League Manager of the Year and was viewed as likely to receive votes for that award this year as well following the club’s record 17-game winning streak which propelled them to the postseason.
Shildt joined the Cardinals organization as a scout and part-time coach in 2004 and has been employed by the club since, including eight years as a minor league manager.
His tenure as the club’s manager was the shortest of any full-time hire since Ken Boyer managed 357 games from 1978-80.
As the Cardinals conduct their second managerial search in three years, Mozeliak conceded that the club has some internal candidates who will be considered for the head job.
First base coach Stubby Clapp, who managed the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds to a championship in 2018, has interviewed for Major League managerial positions in both Pittsburgh and Texas. Clapp, as well as bench coach Oliver Marmol, would represent continuity at a time of unexpected upheaval.
San Diego Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, a former Cardinals player, is also likely to receive strong consideration. San Diego’s coaching staff was granted permission to seek other employment following the firing of manager Jayce Tingler.
“I don’t want us to have to drag our feet,” Mozeliak said of the Cardinals’ timeline for naming a replacement. “I don’t want this [to be] something to go into mid-November where we don’t have this resolved. So we’ll work quickly at this.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 4:18 PM.
