The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a two-year contract extension with manager Oli Marmol, taking him through the 2028 season. We had heard this was likely earlier in the offseason, but nothing officially materialized until now.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had the information on social media:

BREAKING: #Cardinals and manager Oli Marmol have agreed to a two-year extension, a source tells The Post-Dispatch. New contract for careerlong Cardinal begins after this season for 2027-2028 and also includes a club option for 2029.

After trading away Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan and Sonny Gray this offseason, the team's major league roster is in flux, but the major league dugout just got more stable.

After finishing fourth in the National League Central last season, the Cardinals are not expected to contend this season. So why did they do this? Let's examine.

Still just 39 years old, Marmol is headed into the fifth year of his tenure with the Cardinals. He went 93-69 in 2022, winning the National League Central, before going 71-91 in 2023 and finishing last.

St. Louis rebounded to go 83-79 in 2024, but went just 78-84 in 2025.

1) Managers aren't typically left to work in contract years. Players are, and sometimes they perform great in those situations, but managers are rarely put in this position. It's kind of industry practice to give a manager some stability. If the team ends up moving on from him before the contract ends, then so be it, but that is typically how things are done.

2) Major league stability. The roster is in flux and the organization's going through a rebuild. It's certainly a good idea to have a steadying force in the dugout, especially one who has been with the organization and understands it at every level. That kind of intrinsic knowledge can't be replicated. Marmol and the front office already have a relationship which can't be glossed over, either.

3) No point in a new manager in a rebuild. Truthfully, there's no point in trying to "upgrade" when you aren't trying to compete. The Cardinals are better off just keeping Marmol and seeing if he can navigate the rebuild well enough to come out the other side. And if not, then they can move on from him when they are closer to contention and when they can get start looking at the beginning of a managerial hiring cycle.

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