MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 6, 2022

Oliver Marmol

St. Louis Cardinals

Press Conference

Q. How much do you enjoy the roster-building process of this, the way a roster comes together in the offseason?

OLIVER MARMOL: It's fun. And it's been good to sit upstairs and collaborate with our front office and try to figure some things out. They've been really good about just overall inclusion, including me in some of it.

And it's a fun part of the year, try to shape things and make sure that you set up Spring Training feeling pretty good. And the conversations so far have been good.

Q. Does the normalcy this year sort of make you appreciate how weird last year was for you?

OLIVER MARMOL: Absolutely, just the ability to interact with your players, it's a big part of what we do. Yes, a lot better.

Q. I know it's early and obviously your current roster is probably not going to be the entire roster that comes from Opening Day. But the way it's currently standing, what do you think is the biggest strength about this club coming into 2023?

OLIVER MARMOL: Gosh, when you look at -- we've got some performers. When you look at our corners, those guys performed extremely well last year and getting after it as we speak.

Edman and Donovan did a nice job up the middle. When you look at Gorman and the offseason he's having right now and just addressing certain things you feel pretty positive about that.

We've talked about it quite a bit, our outfield, getting production out of them. The way they're going about it right now addressing their offseason also is encouraging. So, yeah, we look forward to it.

Q. The players talk about good situations, bad situations, when you talk to them in these meetings, does word get around that the Cardinals are a good place to play -- a baseball city, a good culture?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah, I think that's known. And we've been known for that for a very long time. People respect the way we go about our process and our overall culture and just the stability of the organization. So there's a lot of respect whenever you sit down with these players and talk to them about what the possibilities are. It's definitely an advantage for us.

Q. When you look at the (indiscernible) you have on the roster, who would you see you would preference to put in center?

OLIVER MARMOL: It's wide open. It really is. It's a competition. I've said it quite a bit over the last year. And we'll go into Spring Training that way. We have guys that play center and guys that have shown they're obviously pretty good in the corners. But it will be a competition.

Q. Have you been able to watch much film on Jordan Walker? I know you got to know him a little bit in Spring Training last year?

OLIVER MARMOL: He hits the ball hard.

Q. Is that a plus?

OLIVER MARMOL: That's a plus. He hits it really hard. But, no, there's other intangibles that go along with his exit velocity. This is a guy that processes information well. Very coachable. Just the way he goes about it, it's pretty professional, especially for his age.

But if you're just talking about his skill set, it's elite. We look forward to seeing it.

Q. What have you learned in the last year and how have you grown as a manager and as a person? I'm sure that the job kind of grows on you a little bit?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah, the way -- I was just asked that moments ago. And the way I'd answer is that it honestly plays at the big league level. Guys don't want to guess where you stand, what you're thinking. It's always good to be able to tell them exactly what you're thinking and be honest with them.

And they have the ability to be honest with me. If they see something they don't like. So I would say that honesty is a good way to go about addressing your staff and your players.

Q. Does one get comfortable after one year, are you comfortable in the role? How would you describe --

OLIVER MARMOL: Define comfortable.

Q. How would you define it?

OLIVER MARMOL: Am I settling in? Yes. I don't think you ever want to be comfortable. You always want to figure out what else can I be doing to improve our situation, our organization. So but am I settling in? Absolutely.

Q. How long did it take to you get over the playoffs, or do you ever get over it? Is it still lingering?

OLIVER MARMOL: Are you asking am I over it? I don't think you ever get over it. It's good to not get over it. Do you learn from it and kind of put it aside? Absolutely.

But it's something that hopefully eats at all of us a little bit. That's what winners do. They hate losing. So, yeah, it stinks. But we'll move on.

Q. This past year, your lineup produced two of the top three vote getters for the MVP. And Albert Pujols had an Albert Pujols type of year --

OLIVER MARMOL: Yes, he did.

Q. But beyond that production kind of was inconsistent.

OLIVER MARMOL: Agreed.

Q. Didn't radiate through. How do you address it? Do you count on improved performance from some of the guys (indiscernible) the years or did you look at the mix?

OLIVER MARMOL: No, I think you address it a couple different ways. Part of it is what we're doing during these meetings. You're finding a catcher that you can insert into the middle of the lineup. But you're also counting on higher production from certain guys.

Tyler O'Neill is going to have to produce more than he produced last year, and he's going about it in a way that's going to give him the best shot to do that.

Look at Carlson and some of the other guys, they're going to take this offseason very serious. And at the end of the day, put very plainly, they're going to have to produce at a higher rate.

Q. Couple of those guys you mentioned, is it health or is there more to it?

A. A little bit. Some of it was health this year. And it's hard to get into a rhythm whenever you're in and out of the lineup due to injury.

And then some of it is also approach-based, mechanics-based, combination of all of it. So, yeah.

Q. Who is your lead-off hitter?

OLIVER MARMOL: What's today's date?

Q. December 6?

OLIVER MARMOL: Give me a couple of months.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

OLIVER MARMOL: Very true. (Laughter).

Q. What -- maybe not who. Like how much influx is the lead-off spot and how much do you think that plays into --

OLIVER MARMOL: We have some options there. And I haven't -- yeah, we have some options to be able to lead off. And as we get closer it will be a little more defined and as we go through Spring Training even more. But at the moment, I know it's not you basically. (Laughter).

Q. You talked about needing lineup protection around Goldschmidt and Arenado. There's been a lot of talk this season about maybe the value of left-handed hitters on the rise with some of the changes we're going to see in the game. Do you feel like you guys, the lineup needs a left-handed presence that's not currently on the team? Do you see maybe that becoming come from a guy like Nolan Gorman if he improves, what do you think?

OLIVER MARMOL: That's the thing. Like, can you go get a left-handed bat? Absolutely. That's part of the conversation, but it's also, what can we count on with what we have. Can we count on Burleson having a good offseason and coming in being able to produce similar to what he did in Triple-A. Obviously there's going to be a little bit of an adjustment. But can he be that left-handed bat?

Can Gorman be that for us? You have certain guys that can step up into the role. And when you look at it, if Tyler O'Neill is hitting the way we think he can he can also be protection. So, yeah, not from the left side but showing --

Q. What's the message to Gorman? We talked a lot about these guys we haven't seen yet and this excitement. He comes up he has -- power but also struggles a little bit?

OLIVER MARMOL: He did. He understands that. Had a really good conversation with him. He also struggled and caught up to the league at every level. So when you look at his overall season, was it what he hoped for? No. Did he strike out more than he wanted? Absolutely.

And he's making some real changes to be able to address that and be able to get to the top of the zone and catch the fastball up there and lay off the ones he can't do anything with. That's being addressed as we speak. But I think him settling in a little bit can also help.

Q. What characteristics do you value in a catcher? Does that need to be a defensive-minded spot? Or obviously you can improve offensively in that spot.

OLIVER MARMOL: It's a combination of things. We're not just looking -- we had a very, very good catcher for a long time and one of the most respected competitors in our game, right?

It's not just finding the best defender or the best bat out there that can catch. It's the overall package of someone that's going to fit our culture and add to it.

And also someone -- there's a difference between guys that just like being big leaguers and guys loves winning. And we want to make sure we get it right, get the guy who loves winning, who wakes up thinking about winning, who goes to sleep thinking about winning.

That's a big difference. When you don't have Yadi and Phil in that, we want to make sure we get it right.

Q. When you say Tyler is doing everything in the offseason to put himself in a position to have a good year, what does that look like?

OLIVER MARMOL: I think it's a combination of the performance side of the weight room and just getting hits body ready for 162 games plus playoffs so that he can answer the bell every day.

But it's also mechanically making some adjustments that are going to allow him to have more success. So we feel good about the direction he's headed. But now it's a matter getting to Spring Training and showing that he's capable of doing what he did a couple years ago.

Q. You had a bunch of young middle relief talent jump off the mat -- Thompson, (indiscernible) and Hicks at the beginning of the year. How important is that trio going to be in the bullpen next year?

OLIVER MARMOL: Very important. Just take Hicks, this is a guy that's maturing extremely well. He has more of a routine. He's going about it in a much more professional manner. He cares about his career and we're excited about the progress he made this year.

Like, he did a really nice job of just showing up and having an actual routine that's going to allow him to have success. So keeping him healthy is going to be important.

Pallante, regardless what role we put him in, was phenomenal. Coming back for a second year, part of the nerves and just expectations, you remove that and allow him to just go be himself and I think we'll have a really good pitcher on our hands.

And then you mentioned there's a bunch of other guys that we're wanting to make sure we have solid offseasons that could help us -- the Liberatores and (indiscernible) and that group. We're looking forward to it.

Q. As much as we talked about catching this offseason with a bunch of guys, what's the conversation with Kez (phonetic), a guy who is kind of in the crossroads in his career here?

OLIVER MARMOL: In what way?

Q. In that you all have been pretty clear that we're looking for a starting catcher, that's a guy that's come up through your system who's been in a role where it seems like he's going to continue in that role rather than having a chance to expand it maybe.

OLIVER MARMOL: Yes, we're in the market for an everyday catcher.

Q. What's the conversation been with Kez?

OLIVER MARMOL: He'll go about his offseason like he normally does. This is a guy that really cares, who is extremely prepared. When you talk to our pitchers, they love having him in the clubhouse because of the way he prepares and goes about his work.

So are we going to match that with someone that can catch every day and take the bulk of it? Absolutely.

And our hope is that he comes in, talking about adjustments, he's making certain adjustments to offensively produce at a higher rate than he has over the last couple of years.

It's tough being in the role that he's been because the consistency of play is just hit or miss. But, yeah, he's a guy that we like having and our staff likes having.

Q. In hindsight, when you look back to last year, how do you view the Hicks and Pallante starting experiments? How would you handle that differently, how does that inform what you do with some guys this coming year?

OLIVER MARMOL: Good question. I don't think we would do anything differently. I think we need to find out if it was real or not. We felt really comfortable in the bullpen towards the later part of the year.

I think Hicks does a better job out of the pen. Pallante showed he can spot start or go out of the bullpen depending on what you look for what the rest of the rotation looks like.

I don't think we do anything different that informs us how we want to move forward this upcoming year. At some point you have to find out whether he can do it or not.

Q. Is Zack Thompson in that spot for this coming year?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. And health is going to be -- our rotation is what it is. And we're going to figure out -- if everybody is healthy, then we don't need Zack in the rotation. It's the reality. So we'll see how everybody comes in, finishes the spring, and we'll go from there.

Q. You mentioned some of the pitchers on the staff (indiscernible). What's something you would like to see maturing this next year?

OLIVER MARMOL: Being able to command the fastball. He was at the top of the zone quite a bit and it gets hit. And his ability to command that pitch is going to be a key.

Q. With him like looking at next year how do you see him factoring into the rotation (indiscernible) pitching staff?

OLIVER MARMOL: I hope all those guys make it really difficult on us. I hope they come in and wow us with what they're doing in spring. The reality is they've had an opportunity to show us what they're capable of doing.

They've had good outings. They've had bad outings, but at the end of the day, like Libby, for example, there's some real work there. And he's going to have to take to it. And, yeah, we'll evaluate it once we see it.

Q. Where does your rotation leave this season? You had Jack and Steven in the bullpen. You're counting on (indiscernible), all things are healthy, you're counting on them to be starters --

OLIVER MARMOL: Absolutely.

Q. (Indiscernible) free agent, but Mikolas returns, (indiscernible) returns. Do you start running out of seats for Dakota if everybody is healthy?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah, you do run out of seats if everybody's healthy. That's what I love about competition is come in, try to take somebody's job, make it hard on us.

But when all those guys that you just named are healthy, that is your rotation.

Q. How much was it good for your peace of mind the way Jack finished the regular season? And now moving forward he's going to be healthy for the first time in a while?

OLIVER MARMOL: I'm really look forward to that. Had a good conversation with him last night. He's feeling really good about where everything is at. Workouts, weight room, everything is in a really, really good spot right now. Really looking forward to seeing Jack this spring.

Q. You talked about expectations for him. Is it what he did in '19 or is it a totally different guy? But you said once a guy's done it, that's the expectation, right?

OLIVER MARMOL: It is. If you ask Jack, he's trying to even be better than that. I don't think he's going to set a ceiling for what he's capable of doing. He's preparing in a way to be able to repeat what we've seen when he's really good.

Q. Going off of that, what are reasonable expectations for Steven Matz? This is a guy that you identified last year as the pitcher you wanted, making significant amount of money. Had an unfortunate year in terms of injuries. What are fair expectations for him when he returns?

OLIVER MARMOL: What we signed him to do, which is take the ball every fifth day and give us real innings. And it was unfortunate with the injuries he had with the knee. But at the end of the day, we're counting on him to be a big part of our rotation.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

OLIVER MARMOL: I actually think he impressed me with his defense more than I anticipated. Like I thought he did a really nice job. I'm not overly concerned with his range, his ability to go to his backhand. To be honest, he turns a really good double play.

Am I concerned with the no shift and him being able to play second every day? No.

Q. Ben was asking about left-handed hitting earlier. We can cherry pick a little bit, but it's very easy because in the postseason you faced two right-handed starters. All October, we saw what right-handed starters do against lineups. For you all to be the postseason successful team you need, do you need some kind of left-handed component?

OLIVER MARMOL: It's definitely more on our radar. It's part of of the discussion during the days we're here. And our focus at the moment (indiscernible), made it clear we need to walk away with a catcher. And then we'll dive into what's next from there.

But the focus right now is someone being able to sit behind the plate and catch the ball.

Q. That's obviously because you can't have them all go to the back stop?

OLIVER MARMOL: By rule.

Q. By rule. That's a lot of extra bases to give up which I know you guys want to avoid. Speaking of extra bases, to have that kind of production from the left side, is that essential now? Like over there -- Harper, Schwarber, is that just how the game's played? To put a point on it, you struggled against right-handed pitching last year, top right-handed pitching. And you did that even with MVPs in the mix. So to change that look of the offense does it have to be left side?

OLIVER MARMOL: It's helpful if it is. And now the conversation is give Gorman those at-bats, or Burleson those at-bats or go to the free agent market. And then what does that look like? But it's helpful to be able to combat a really good right-handed pitcher, yes.

Q. Is (indiscernible) that guy? Is Lars?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yes.

Q. You mentioned Gorman and Burleson. Is Noot --

OLIVER MARMOL: When you look at the potential at-bats coming from second base, from Donovan and Gorman, and then from DH spot with Burleson, Noot will play the outfield every day.

Q. You'll have three big horses in the World Baseball Classic. Will that give you more bats in Spring Training?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yes, it gives you the ability to give other people at-bats and get a good look on guys. But absolutely.

Q. Talked about catching in general, but Willson Contreras is out there is a free agent. He's not a left-handed slug guy, but he's got a little bit of a bat. What kind of a fit could he be for you guys and how well do you know him?

OLIVER MARMOL: There's a couple of guys that that would be a good fit. And it's a matter of us taking a step back and making sure we get it right. But Willson is a very good competitor.

And earlier we talked about loving winning, and this is a guy that loves to win, who wakes up thinking about it, goes to sleep thinking about it. And we've seen quite a bit across the way. And it's a guy you don't want to compete against because you know he's pretty good. So, yeah, he's a great competitor. And we respect his game.

Q. He's a guy I've covered since he came up in Chicago. And I know how passionate he is about things like that. I think he would be extremely motivated especially maybe to stay in the division with a chance to win it against -- does that come into play at all when you consider a guy like that who might come in a little bit of a chip on his shoulder who already has that edge to him anyway?

OLIVER MARMOL: Does it have crazy weight? No, because you're more evaluating his skill set, just overall competitive nature, not so much just because he's going to be competing across the way from a team he just came from.

I think there's other attributes we would weigh a lot more than that. But if we're saying is he a competitor that loves winning? Yes. Yes.

Q. My understanding is that you may have talked to him fairly recently. Did you learn anything about him that you didn't already know, do you think?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah, I was able to spend some time with him. And me and Mo spent a decent amount of time with him and his agents. And it was a good visit. It really was.

When you set aside everything from a competitive seeing him across the way, just having conversations with him, learning what kind of drives him, what motivates him, and what he's looking for moving forward, it's telling. Yes, we enjoy everything.

Q. Could you confirm that Lars is going to be an everyday starting outfielder and why is it so easy to say he seemed pretty adamant from you. You wanted to say it. Want to put it out there?

OLIVER MARMOL: It's not putting it out there. It's my hope he wins the job every day that's my hope for TO. My hope is for Dylan, but at the end of the day this is a guy that trajectory was showing the ability to produce day to day and answer the bell every day. Prepares in a way for winning.

If you're asking me is it his job, no. All these guys are going to come in and compete. He's showing the ability to do that well.

Q. That could be a different outfield spot every day, is that --

OLIVER MARMOL: That's the part where it's not defined for me. But does he have the ability to play center field, yes. We've seen him play the other two positions very well. So we'll see.

Q. Is finding that No. 5 spot in the order catching is 1A finding protection is 1B?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yes.

Q. How important is it to make sure 3 and 4 seat pitchers?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah, it's important. And it may have to be with someone that's already in the organization steps up.

Q. Is it ideal 1A and B are the same guy, is it ideal if 1A and B are the same guy?

OLIVER MARMOL: It could be.