10 burning questions the Cardinals must answer if they want to win back their fans

Question #4 - If John Mozeliak is no longer in charge, does Oli Marmol lose his job too?

Even as someone who has liked Oli Marmol during his time as the Cardinals' manager, I have a hard time believing the Cardinals can keep him as their manager after this season and get fans to buy into what they are doing.

Marmol's time with the Cardinals has been rocky at best. Following a fun 2022 campaign where St. Louis made the playoffs, the Cardinals are set to miss the playoffs for two straight seasons and have looked like a mess in both of them.

I put most of that blame on the front office and the system issues that they have fostered (and that ownership has ultimately allowed to occur) as the reason why the Cardinals find themselves where they are. But do I think Marmol's hands are clean? No. Do I think he deserves to lose his job? Not at this moment. But the more I think about it, the more it feels like Bloom or whoever takes over will want to put a new voice in the clubhouse.

With a name like Skip Schumaker likely available this offseason, it feels like a good time to be looking for a manager if St. Louis goes in that direction. Names like Guardians' Kai Correa, Cubs' Ryan Flaherty, and Blue Jays' Mark Budzinski have been named in the past as potential managers one day. And of course, we all know about Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols' aspirations to manage one day.

If sweeping changes are coming in St. Louis, it is likely best to fully commit to that, rather than have a lame-duck manager with new leadership in place. If not, I think fans will be very frustrated to see Marmol in the manager seat again next season, whether he deserves another chance or not.