St. Louis Cardinals: Staff changes take Oquendo to the minors

In a large announcement today, the St. Louis Cardinals have announced some new roles for a number of staffers, Jose Oquendo’s name being the most recognized. What do the new roles look like?

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced changes in roles affecting both the major leagues and the minors today. Among the biggest results is that the team will once again have a change at the Third Base Coach position.

After joining the team as a bench coach in 1999, Jose Oquendo had been a stalwart for the Cardinals at Third Base Coach until health problems forced him to take a year off in 2016. After returning as an advisor in 2017, Oquendo once again manned the third base coach’s box in 2018. Oquendo’s return to the field is a short one as he will be moving to a minor league instructors role with the club.

The former player was known as the unofficial “secret weapon” of the team and is a very highly regarded defensive infielder instructor. There was public outcry in 2016 and 2017 that the reason the team performed so poorly defensively those years was because Oquendo’s voice wasn’t as prevalent with the team.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals: Former MLB GM calls Jordan Walker a superstar for 2023
• Cardinals: Cubs looking to make major moves this offseason
• St. Louis Cardinals: New CBA rule encourages Jordan Walker’s promotion
• Cardinals: These are the ways St. Louis can free up more payroll
• Cardinals: First offseason acquisition is minor but speaks volumes

Moving to the minor league side of things will allow Oquendo to work with players at Roger Dean Stadium which is closer to his home in Florida. The impact of Oquendo leaving is a difficult discussion because there are so many variables that one person’s impact is unquantifiable.  The good news is that Oquendo will still be with the team, and while his work won’t be as directly related to the major league team, his wealth of knowledge is still valuable to young players.

Among the other changes the Cardinals announced was the hiring of Joey Prebynski for the newly created role of Major League Game Plan Coach. As far as what this role is, your guess is as good as mine. Here is the link to all the changes.

Many people will probably think that this move is the wrong move for the major league club. What I would expect is that this move was made to honor what Oquendo wants. Oquendo has a history of major knee surgeries and Third Base Coach may have been too much for him. He will be missed and while different, his new role will still positively affect the future of the team.