Let us give thanks and praise to the Puerto Rican newspaper El Vocero, which gave bloggers, columnists, reporters, aggregators, podcasters, video yappers and talk-show squawkers some fresh content on the St. Louis Cardinals. Well, sort of.
I don’t know about y’all, but I was getting tired of the “news” stories and segments on Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, and Sonny Gray. To name just a few.
These were matters of extreme importance that aren’t important at all …
Because NOTHING IS HAPPENING. THE OFFSEASON HASN’T STARTED.
There have been 100,000 “Top 5 Candidates To Replace Oli Marmol” listicles.
There have been at least 2,250,007 message-board or comments-section sniping that carry the title SELL THE TEAM DEWITT!
Here’s a suggestion for a deep analysis piece: “My 29 Moves That Chaim Bloom Should Make In 3 Days To Make the Cardinals the World Series Favorites for 2026.”
All of this is getting old. Once upon a time we talked about baseball in this town instead of caterwauling about how everyone should be fired.
I’ve typed the names of two Cardinals players so many times since the end of the 2024 season, I’m stunned that I haven’t renamed them Jordan Gorman and Nolan Walker.
So yes, let’s rejoice and take a moment to salute El Vocero.
An item on Yadier Molina had the remaining Cardinals fans panting and speculating, slapping on fake-outrage X paint, eating their own fingertips and concocting wacko palace-intrigue scenarios that will lead to an unmerciful Marmol firing.
(In other words: just another day in Cardinal Nation.)
El Vocero quoted Yadier Molina as saying this:
“Right now we are in contact with St. Louis to be coach of the Cardinals, to help Marmol. He continues as a leader, but he would be there by his side. There is nothing concrete yet, but we are working on it.”
I like this.
But I am not surprised by this.
Reasons:
1) Molina and Marmol have an excellent relationship. They were St. Louis teammates from 2017 through 2022. Molina the catcher. Marmol the first base coach, bench coach and manager.
2) Marmol invited Molina to join the team late in the 2025 season as a guest coach. And Molina (of course) took it seriously. This wasn’t a vacation. The two friends talked baseball for hours, and quizzed each other on potential strategy scenarios. Why do this? Why not do that? Molina asked Marmol about the process that a young manager must go through to develop in the job at the big-league level. And it isn’t easy to do. Molina is a great leader but even the best leaders can’t comprehend how much goes into the education of a first-time major-league. Molina is an incredibly smart baseball man – so smart, in fact, that he realizes that he doesn’t know everything about a pressure-cooker job.
3) What did Marmol ask Molina about during Yadi’s time in the dugout and in their conversations before and after games? Well, everything. (Oh, Oli must be weak, needing Molina as his big brother. Some jackass sent me that. So, were Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan weak? I would say they were the opposite of weak … and those two men were constantly seeking out Molina’s perspective on all kinds of baseball matters. One would have to be incredibly stupid to decline to take advantage of Molina’s presence and availability.
4) After the Cardinals were eliminated in the 2022 NL wild-card series, Molina and Albert Pujols – in separate conversations – approached Marmol to tell him a few things. Before they headed out the door and into retirement as players, the two Cardinal legends wanted to tell Marmol a few things.
– They both enjoyed playing for him.
– They both respected him.
– They thought Marmol had what it takes to grow into a great manager.
– And both Pujols and Molina told Marmol something that floored him: they were interested in coaching for him. Not immediately because both Albert and Yadier wanted to focus on family matters for two or three years. Their kids. Molina had a son who had real talent for baseball, and a chance to earn a scholarship to college. Pujols was engaged and about to remarry. But these future Hall of Famers paid Marmol a helluva compliment by letting him know they thought so highly of him – they were willing to work for him and help him.
Now, that positive view of Marmol may not match the feverish anti-Marmol bellowing from Johnny in Fenton or Robert in Ballwin – but of course Johnny and Robert know much more about Marmol, much more about baseball, than two of the greatest players in franchise history.
So, what’s next?
Molina wants to be a major-league manager, but he isn’t making a run to steal Marmol’s job. Molina isn’t that kind of human being. He’s an honorable person. But if Molina can gain experience in a different leadership role – coaching – then it will help shape his mindset as needed for managing … and better prepare him for the job.
Molina has managed Team Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He will do so again in the spring of 2026. Late in 2024, Molina also managed in the Dominican Republican Winter League. By experiencing so many layers of leadership – and doing it in all settings – Molina would certainly be more of a factor in manager jobs that come open. Marmol’s current contract doesn’t expire until after the 2026 season, but he could earn an extension. New president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom is an ally – but sees no reason to rush into any decision on Marmol’s future.
Who knows what Bloom would do if he needed a new manager? It’s ridiculous to speculate, because Bloom would do a thorough search without being unduly influenced by the popularity of a retired St. Louis star. But of course, if Molina does become a Cards coach, he’d have the chance to get to know Bloom personally – and learn about what Bloom expects from a manager. What style of manager does Bloom prefer?
Molina is letting the Cardinals know that he wants to be part of their rebuild. He wants to help Marmol. He wants to help the Cardinals rise again. Those are sincere wishes. But Molina will have other opportunities from other MLB organizations. I make no predictions here. It’s too early for that.
That won’t stop the anti-Marmol faction from getting steamed up and presenting loony conspiracy theories.
I look forward to the day when the Cardinals are good again, and our town can talk ball again. That was fun.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him weekdays on the “Gashouse Gang” or “Redbird Rush Hour” on KMOX, and Bernie does a weekly “Seeing Red” podcast on the Cardinals with his longtime pal Will Leitch.
Bernie joins Katie Woo on the “Cardinal Territory” video-podcast each week, and you can catch a weekly “reunion” segment here at STL Sports with Bernie’s appearance on the Randy Karraker Show every Friday morning at 10:30 am.