St. Louis Cardinals: Greats endorsing Mike Shildt for manager

The St. Louis Cardinals have so many reasons why they need to just go ahead and make Mike Shildt the manager moving forward. The delay is making little sense.

The St. Louis Cardinals need a permanent manager after the 2018 season. This same team is being managed by Mike Shildt who has climbed the organization over the past several years. Life has been found within the squad and the results are showing in a positive manner.

Caught in the wake of the positive results, the St. Louis Cardinals are now heaping praise upon Shildt and it seems more and more that the job is indeed his to lose. With all the praise, however, I find myself wondering why the front office is delaying what to me is the inevitable.

Let’s take a look at all the current praise for Shildt. First up, Jose Oquendo. Let me add this disclaimer: I wanted Oquendo to manage the St. Louis Cardinals for years. He never got the call but was interviewed during the post-Tony La Russa era. He came in third behind Mike Matheny (vomit) and Terry Francona.

“I think the Cardinals have the right guy in Mike. I think, to me, in my opinion, they should decide now and make him the manager. He’s a good one. I don’t think they should miss him.” — Jose Oquendo to ⁦@Ben_Fred⁩ in this revealing story. #stlcards https://t.co/Y101Z1kwSJ
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) August 17, 2018

To me, an endorsement from Oquendo’s praise elevates Shildt to a new level.

Next up on the praise train is Bill DeWitt, Jr. The St. Louis Cardinals’ owner (holder of the purse) gave his affirmation to Derrick Goold and MLB correspondent Jenifer Langosch.

"“Hard to imagine he could do any better than he’s done so far.” -- Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. on Mike Shildt's opening turn as #stlcards manager to @Ben_Fred, @LangoschMLB, and myself moments ago. #cardinals #MLB
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) August 17, 2018

In addition to the above, DeWitt, Jr. went further to indicate that no movement would occur, yet.

#STLCards owner Bill DeWitt Jr wouldn't comment on the possibility of taking the interim title away from Mike Shildt during the season, but he did offer this:

"Hard to imagine he could do any better than he’s done so far."
— Jenifer Langosch (@LangoschMLB) August 17, 2018

These are the comments that make me scratch my head. I do understand that negotiations might be underway and that the best business approach would not be to show one’s hand, but I question the praise if nothing is to come of it.

These questions remain for me:

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Why praise and do nothing?
Why praise if you are in negotiating a future? Wouldn’t this just build the case of the receive of praise to ask for more money?
Why not investigate the players to see if they feel similarly to these comments?
Bottom line: why not give the man the job now and lock in a sense of security for the team?

The last one is the rub… This team has gone through too many seasons under Mike Matheny that were lackluster and left many people scratching their heads. It would help dramatically to install security for the future today.

Additionally, should the St. Louis Cardinals name Shildt manager under a two-to-three-year contract, this could bridge the gap to the time when Yadier Molina is ready to take the role and would tell the players that performance is rewarded. I think the last part of that sentence is the most important part.

The time is now to grab the positive waves and ride them to new heights. This comes most easily from explicitly rewarding the positive.

Give Shildt a dotted line upon which to sign and do it now.

Would you support such a move? Thanks for reading and go Cardinals!

The St. Louis Cardinals have so many reasons why they need to just go ahead and make Mike Shildt the manager moving forward. The delay is making little sense.

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