Oli Marmol makes the case that it's a really good time to be a Cardinals fan

You wouldn't think that a Major League manager would be talking about how great a time it is to be a fan of a franchise after missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season...but St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol did just that, and he's right. Jeff Jones captured the quote in his newsletter, "Words About Birds", which is 100% worth a subscription if you haven't already.

“This is the most excited I’ve been about our system in a long time, as far as what’s currently in the room and what’s coming,” said manager Oli Marmol, cutting off a question about young players who have arrived seemingly more prepared for competition at the highest level than the generation which preceded them. “It’s a really good time to be a Cardinal fan, because what’s coming is real, and what’s in that room is real, and we know where the holes are.”

I know there are Cardinals fans whose blood is probably boiling after reading those words from Marmol. Read the room, right? Well, I'd actually argue that Marmol is spot on, and while the patience for October-less baseball is rightfully running thin, the organization is in the best spot it's been in in years, and they are primed to get back to the postseason in a big way soon.

Oli Marmol is right about it being the most exciting time to be a Cardinals in a long-time

The last time the Cardinals made the playoffs was in 2022, when Albert Pujols went on his magical run alongside Yadier Molina in their final seasons, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado were competing for National League Most Valuable Player, and the team fought its way to the postseason...only to fall in two games to the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card round.

The Cardinals have yet to win a playoff series since 2019, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in five games and were swept by the Washington Nationals in the National League Championship Series. In the years since then, they've fallen to the Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round, or missed the playoffs entirely since 2023.

Fans can make one of three arguments: The Cardinals haven't been successful since 2022, they haven't really been themselves since 2019, when they made an actual run, or if you don't think getting swept in the NLCS is worth writing home about, then it's really been since the mid-2010s that the Cardinals have been the team fans expect them to be.

So, while it's 100% fair to be extremely upset about the way things have gone down over the last four seasons on the field, I don't see how fans couldn't be over the moon by the work this Chaim Bloom-led front office has done to infuse talent into the organization, and the fact that there is real, genuine hope about the future of the team for the first time in a long-time.

We'll see how this offseason goes, but it's very fair to think the Cardinals will be a contender for the postseason in 2027. No, not like this year where it always felt like a stretch, but a team firmly in the mix for the Wild Card, possibly even the division, as they begin the next window of contention. And by the time 2028 and 2029 come around, they could be a really, really good team.

If that's the case, then yes, Marmol is 100% right. Not because fans should settle for mediocre play, but because they should expect the Cardinals to care about setting the standard that St. Louis has grown accustomed to once again. That standard doesn't come through quick fixes or Band-aid solutions; it comes from a smart, strategic front office that is ruthlessly committed to that vision. It meant taking lumps over the last calendar year in the near-term, but if this plan continues to work like it appears to be, then the long-term gain is going to be so much greater than it otherwise would have been.

If Marmol is right, that means 2026 should be the last season for some time where it feels like the Cardinals are truly not relevant in the postseason picture. I'm pretty sure fans would love for that to be the case, and with all of the young talent already on the team and so much more coming, the Cardinals truly are on the upswing right now.

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