St. Louis Cardinals back manager Oliver Marmol with contract extension
Less than two weeks ahead of attempting to mount a comeback from their first last-place finish in decades, the St. Louis Cardinals acted Friday to guarantee stability and in support of a manager who would otherwise have carried the weight of a lame duck.
Oliver Marmol and the team agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension, a source confirmed to the Belleville News-Democrat. His original three-year deal, signed ahead of the 2022 season, was set to expire at the conclusion of this year.
Terms of the extension have not been disclosed.
“Oli is a well-respected member of the Cardinals organization, who came up through the ranks of our player development system, and has made a nice transition to managing at the Major League level,” Cardinals’ Chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. said in a release. “We are pleased to have Oli under contact for the next three seasons.”
Entering his third season as manager, Marmol, 37, remains the youngest person to hold that position in the majors. He has been a part of the Cardinals organization since being drafted in the sixth round in 2007. He began his coaching career immediately after retiring as a player in 2010 and has been a part of the major league staff in St. Louis since 2017, serving as first base coach and then bench coach before replacing Mike Shildt.
“Over the past two seasons, we have experienced a lot of different emotions, both up and down, and through it all, Oli has helped navigate us through these challenging times,” said Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak. “Oli has the support of our players, our coaching staff, and the front office.”
Despite last season’s struggles, he holds a 164-160 record as manager of the Cardinals, reaching the postseason in 2022 before being swept in the Wild Card round by the Philadelphia Phillies.
“We’re very positive on Oli as our manager,” chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. said in January. “We’ll see how this year goes, but I have full expectation that after this year, he’ll continue as our manager.”
That expectation has now been guaranteed with dollars.
This story was originally published March 15, 2024 at 12:44 PM.
