Cardinals leave more questions than answers after firing their manager

The Cardinals announced yesterday afternoon that they had “dismissed” manager Mike Shildt after three and a half years in the position. During the team’s teleconference to announce the move, Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak cited “philosophical differences” as the reasoning behind the decision but declined to elaborate any further. Mozeliak notified Shildt yesterday morning that his 18-year tenure with the organization had come to an end.

It’s hard to say that there’s been any decision the Cardinals’ front office has made that shocked me more than this decision. The only challenger is when the Cardinals acquired Jason Heyward in November 2014.

After all, the Cardinals had won 90 games this season and made the postseason in each of Shildt’s three full seasons at the helm. He was a Cardinals’ lifer who had joined the organization as a scout—even being hired by Mozeliak—and worked his way up as a coach to minor league manager to major league coach before landing the top uniformed gig in the organization. So, there was little reason to suspect that he would not only continue to be the Cardinals’ manager in 2022, but also receive and extension this winter.

I’ve been quick to point out on Twitter how this team’s 90-72 record affects the final opinion of this team. The historic winning streak is great, but let’s not forget that without it, these same Cardinals were less than a month away from going 82-80 and missing the postseason.

Despite those struggles, I still felt that extending Shildt was going to be the right decision for the organization because the team was still showing up with fight every night as the injuries mounted. That showed leadership and kept them in position to be able to capitalize on that historic winning stream with a potseason berth.

But I’m also a strong supporter of the idea that once you’ve realized that someone is no longer the right fit for their job, it should be their last day. And after listening to the teleconference, the only thing I’m convinced of is that that’s how Mozeliak felt about this situation.

Maybe I just missed it because I didn’t pay as much attention to the Cardinals this season as I have in years past, but there was some friction between Shildt and hitting coach Jeff Albert. When asked about it during the teleconference, Mozeliak indicated that it was not the only reason behind the firing but left unsaid is that it was a contributing factor. Perhaps even driving many of the other reasons.

Since Albert returned to the Cardinals’ organization in 2019 as the team’s hitting coach, his employment has been a lightning rod for fans because it has not let to immediate offensive improvement for the big-league club. He inherited a club that had been 10th in runs scored in 2018 but fell to 19th in 2019 and hasn’t finished in the top half of the league in three seasons.

But whether fans think that it’s working is beside the point. The front office believes in him and the philosophies and approaches he’s bringing to the table. In the years since he arrived, the Cardinals have only expanded Albert’s influence as he now manages the curriculum for the hitting philosophy that’s taught throughout the organization, from top to bottom. The offensive explosion in the minors this season was attributed to Albert’s approach.

So, if there were disagreements between Shildt and Albert, issues that were perhaps hinted at by Tommy Edman earlier in the season on preparation and adjustments, this could be one of the key reasons behind it. Perhaps Shildt felt that he was on firmer ground that he actually was when he said something during the front office meetings last week?

One of Mozeliak’s themes during the news conference was talking about making sure everyone is on the same page. Most will suggest that that means that the front office is looking for a “Yes Man” and that Shildt no longer fit that definition, but that’s not the read I get on this situation. They do value people having differing opinions, but at the end of the day a decision is made, and everyone has to be pulling in the same direction and buy in.

There were definitely pre-existing disagreements on the coaching staff, but they either recently blew up or Mozeliak just realized that they were a lot bigger than he previously understood and felt a decision needed to be made. And the reason for the expediency is that you want to have a managerial opening before other teams start filling theirs. So after 18 years of working together, Mozeliak no longer sensed that Shildt would be able to overcome his own objections and buy into the direction he wanted to take the organization.

The vagueness of Mozeliak leads to a lot more questions than answers about what prompted this move by the Cardinals. Shildt is expected to make a statement on Monday about the decision, and while I don’t expect him to say much of anything, more information will eventually work its way out about what happened. But in the absence of that information, it leaves room for media and fans to inject that void with their own narratives and assumptions about what happened. After 18 years of loyal service, I feel like Mike Shildt deserves better than that.

If it was a baseball decision, let’s hear it. But it’s hard to call it a good move or a bad move.

Another thing worth considering is that when Shildt was promoted three and a half years ago, much was made about his connection to George Kissell and his carrying of “The Cardinal Way.” Kissel was the man at the center of the concept and after his death, Kissel’s son put together about a dozen books of Kissell’s notes about baseball and Shildt was a recipient of one. So, I think it’s fair to ask what those “philosophical differences” were and what Shildt’s departure represents for an organization when it comes to their core philosophies that Shildt was said to embody just three years ago.

But there is a managerial opening in St. Louis and the leaders in the clubhouse are—quite literally—first base coach Stubby Clapp and bench coach Oliver Marmol.

Clapp, 48, played 23 games for the Cardinals twenty years ago and after minor league coaching stints with Houston and Toronto, he returned to the Cardinals for the 2017 season to take over for Shildt as manager of the Memphis Redbirds. The Redbirds and Clapp would win back-to-back Pacific Coast League championships and he garnered some big league managerial interest from the Blue Jays, but ended up taking an opportunity to be the Cardinals’ first base coach.

Marmol, 35, was a 6th round pick by the Cardinals in the 2007 draft. After spending four seasons in the minors, Marmol transitioned to coaching. In 2021, he would replace Shildt as the manager of the Johnson City Cardinals and in 2015 he would move up to the Palm Beach Cardinals. In 2017, Marmol joined the big league coaching staff as first base coach before moving to bench coach for the 2019 season. The organization has talked highly of Marmol’s managerial prospects and may not have been ready three years ago, but may be a serious candidate this time. In fact, I’d probably put my money on him if they go for an internal option.

There are also some reports out of San Diego that Padres bench coach Skip Schumaker may interview for the job.

Regardless, I expect that the front office will take a few days to collect their thoughts, assess the potential outside candidates, and decide if there’s anyone they might want to interview. Having guys like Clapp and Marmol on the coaching, who they believe could make good managers, has to provide the front office with some level of comfort going forward.

My biggest question was whether this might reveal that Mozeliak is getting some pressure from his boss to produce a winning ballclub. After all, we hear every year that the goal is to win the division, but the Cardinals have just one division title over the last six years, the worst such stretch of DeWitt’s ownership. If it weren’t for expanded playoffs in the COVID shortened 2020 season, they would have missed the postseason. And they snuck in with the second wild card this year.

During the teleconference, Mozeliak did most of the talking while DeWitt seemed like he was there to just provide support. It felt atypical for DeWitt, who I compare to Jerry Jones as perhaps the most involved owner in the league. Three and a half years ago when the Cardinals fired Mike Matheny, DeWitt seemed to take the lead, but not here. Which may suggest the haste at which this situation came to light.

However, given that Mozeliak also termed the 2021 season “a real success” in front of said boss, I question whether he’s really under much pressure at all. DeWitt and Mozeliak see eye-to-eye and he is involved in every decision, but fundamentally this team is falling short. They are a good enough team to be there, but not good enough to beat the very best teams on a consistent basis. Some of that is resources, but some of that, especially in the NL Central, is decision-making. That’s something that I don’t feel this office deserves the benefit of the doubt on at this point. And that brings us back around.

I’ll leave you with this question though. How many front office executives in baseball survive the firing of two managers, let alone three?