Cardinals News: St. Louis makes change to coaching staff

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a change to the coaching staff, with Jobel Jimenez leaving the organization.

When the St. Louis Cardinals fired Mike Shildt, and named Oli Marmol as manager, they indicated that they wanted to keep the majority of the coaching staff in place. But the possibility of change loomed ahd on Sunday, that’s exactly what happened.

The Cardinals are not retaining assistant hitting coach Jobel Jimenez, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic. They offered him a position as a minor-league roving instructor, but he declined and will leave the organization.

This is the first known change to the Cardinals’ staff and could be the only departure. Hitting coach Jeff Albert will stay and it seems like keeping him was important for the front office despite the external pressure to remove him from the position as the offense floundered at various points during the season.

It’s unclear how the Cardinals intend to replace Jimenez, but it’s possible they look outside the organization to fill the position. They have talked to Skip Schumaker about a spot on the staff – he would need a more prominent role to join – but one option could be legendary outfielder Matt Holliday.

That’s just me connecting the dots, but the Cardinals were connected to Holliday immediately after firing Shildt. He has never coached in the majors before and bringing him on in an assistant hitting coach capacity makes a lot of sense. Besides, he’s close with Nolan Arenado, and what better way to please the star third baseman than bringing on someone he played with and is said to idolize?

Look for more coaching news in the coming days and weeks as Marmol attempts to fill out his staff, with a potential replacement being someone who aligns with what the organization is trying to build moving forward.