1. Stubby Clapp
He may not be as popular of a choice as someone like Molina, but in my opinion he is the most logical as a potential replacement.
Clapp didn't have the MLB career that anyone else on this list had, as he only played 23 games with the Cardinals in 2001, but he had a long minor league career, and an impressive international career representing Canada in the World Baseball Classic and Pan American Games, including earning a gold medal in 1991.
His coaching career started in 2008 as the hitting coach for the Lexington Legends and he moved up the ranks in their organization to where he eventually became the manager of the Astros Single A team in Tri-City in 2011 and 2012. After being a hitting coach for two seasons in the Blue Jays minor league system and coaching for Canada in the 2015 Pan American Games, he was named the manager of the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, for the 2017 season.
Memphis was where Clapp played most of his professional career and he was a fan favorite, the Redbirds actually retired his number in 2007. In his first season, the Redbirds defeated the El Paso Chihuahuas for the PCL championship and Clapp was named Minor League Manager of the Year. He would lead the Redbirds to the championship again in 2018 and he won the Manager of the Year in consecutive seasons. After the second title he was named the first base coach of the Cardinals and he is entering his sixth season in that role.
Clapp was also mentioned in my previous article about potentially replacing Marmol as manager, in my opinion, he would be the favorite to be next in line just because of his coaching experience within the Cardinal organization. 2024 will be Clapp's 8th season coaching in the organization, he has had success within the organization and seems to be well respected by everyone. He would not bring the excitement that someone like Yadier Molina would, but his resume speaks for itself, and he should be strongly considered for manager if they decide to move on from Oliver Marmol in the coming seasons.