Mostly because his close association with John Mozeliak and the stigma that it carries among "Mo's" aggressive critics, Oli Marmol is an unpopular manager among Cardinals fans. Not all of them feel this way, but the negativity is obvious. And that's OK. Fans can like who they want to like. They can dislike who they want to dislike.

But here's my opinion, which no one has to agree with: I'm fine with Marmol staying in place for 2025. My reasons are obvious, and in this video I took the time to explain them. Some examples ...

The Cardinals outperformed their run differential and expected win total by 7 wins, foraging for 83 victories instead of 76. That was the best margin by an MLB team in 2024. Marmol won as many games (83) as the heralded Craig Counsell in Counsell's first season of leading the Cubs.

Marmol won the same number of games as Counsell despite the Cubs outspending the Cardinals by $46 million in the 26-man payroll accounting this season.

Marmol and Tony La Russa have something in common that may surprise you a little.

When Chaim Bloom takes over as president of baseball operations a year from now, he will be given a clean slate (and a fresh start) to select his own manager -- if he wants to. It's better to wait for the Mozeliak-Bloom transition to be completed before committing to a new manager.