Oli Marmol Breaks Silence After Cardinals Trade Deadline Moves

The St. Louis Cardinals made a trio of moves at the trade deadline that indicated they were waving the white flag on the season. Steven Matz was traded to the Boston Red Sox. Ryan Helsley was dealt to the New York Mets. And Phil Maton was sent to the Texas Rangers.

But just because the season isn't going to result in a World Series doesn't mean it's a waste. In fact, manager Oliver Marmol still seems quite enthusiastic about the year.

“This lineup is what’s next,” Marmol said, via The Athletic's Katie Woo. “Some of these guys in the ‘pen, that’s what’s next. There is way more enthusiasm in a year like this compared to a 2023 standpoint because you’re investing in what the future is going to look like. That wasn’t the case last time.”

Marmol has had a tough job all season. He's manager a team with a lot less talent than the top dogs in the National League and he helped keep them afloat for a large portion of the year. Even after trading a few key pieces, Marmol isn't ready to change up the way he's doing things this year.

“I don’t think my job changes, because I’ve had the same approach since the beginning of the season as to what we find important,” Marmol said. “We won games along the way, but not at the expense of rotating guys, development, evaluating.

“We gave guys opportunities and our staff is highly focused on growing these guys. That doesn’t change,” he added. “We have different guys now and a younger group … but our objective overall, our goals as a staff, remain the same.”

The Cardinals are set up to win in 2027 and beyond. Once the youth movement reaches the big leagues and guys like Nolan Arenado are on their way out, the team will finally hit the peak they've been looking for. Until then, Marmol and the Cardinals will stay the course.