Jon Heyman: Interim Shildt may be the right man to manage the Cardinals full-time
Jon Heyman

Some
major names – including Joe Girardi’s – have been connected to the
Cardinals managing job. But there are a couple early signs that the
preferred candidate may already be in place, and that just may be
interim manager Mike Shildt, a near complete unknown before his
surprise July 14 ascension to the role.
Shildt
is 11-8 with the Cardinals so far, which isn’t earth-shattering, but
that record includes eight games against the first-place Cubs, the
archrival. So while his record to date isn’t all that dissimilar from
that of dismissed predecessor Mike Matheny, he passed the first step by
avoiding an early burial at a time the Cardinals were at a low ebb.
“We’re
not drawing any conclusions at this point. But he has definitely done a
nice job,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said by phone, when asked about Shildt’s chances to keep the position full-time.
Girardi
in many ways is the most attractive managerial candidate out
there, and with his well-known connections to Mozeliak and the
Cardinals, there was plenty of early speculation about his chances. There
was also some speculation about home run champ Mark McGwire and a few
others. But all indications are that Shildt, a long-time minor-league
manager with the Cardinals, has the first chance, and it shouldn’t be
dismissed as a formality.
Mozeliak
mentioned how Shildt, who he originally hired as a part-time area
scout more than a decade ago, is very familiar with much of the roster, players who came up through St. Louis' very fertile system. A reliance on
drafting and developing, and the vaunted system, is the M.O. of the
Cardinals (no pun intended), and people around the team view his
familiarity as a great positive.
Despite
the early speculation, Girardi may ultimately have a better chance with
the Cardinals’ main rival – though anything with the Cubs may take
years, as they have the legendary Joe Maddon as their manager, and he
continues to do an excellent job. Girardi doesn’t discuss specific jobs,
but it is believed that’d be OK with Girardi, who can afford to wait
and is believed to enjoy his high-profile analyst’s job with MLB
Network.
There’s
no evidence anything’s afoot with the Cubs and Maddon, but if there’s
ever a real call to make a change there at some point in future years
(with managers, you never know), word is that Cubs people have great
respect for Girardi, a former Cubs player, Northwestern alum and
Peoria, Ill. product. That’s surely a thought for another time; the
Cubs seem on their way to a return trip to the playoffs.
Girardi
has consistently declined to address the Cardinals job, which is the
right thing to do considering Shildt’s the current manager, and while
friends of his suggested he’d be interested in the St Louis job,
one close acquaintance suggested that couldn’t possibly be known
since Girardi is so private that he’d only talk about that with his
immediate family. The friend wouldn’t say whether the job would interest
Girardi (only that we couldn’t possibly have heard it).
Girardi
texted a few weeks ago to confirm he’s generally interested in managing
again, but didn’t respond to a recent text. His agent Steve Mandell did
not return a call.
Others
say that while Girardi and Mozeliak have a rapport, and their
relationship in fact goes back to Colorado Rockies days more than two
decades ago before they teamed up briefly when Girardi finished his fine
playing career in St. Louis, the closeness of their connection may have
been exaggerated in earlier reports here and elsewhere.
Girardi
hasn’t ever made a deal about money, but financially, St. Louis may not
be a fit. According to paperwork received by Fancred, the Cardinals are
committed to paying the $5.3 million remaining on Matheny’s contract
(the details suggest he was making $1.9 million this year and is
to make $2.1 million next year and $2.3 million in 2020), though
Mozeliak would only confirm that Matheny’s contract runs through 2020.
Girardi was making $4 million annually at the end with the Yankees. So Shildt may be a better financial fit, too.
The
Cardinals, always known as among the most fundamentally sound of teams,
shockingly have been beset by defensive and base running lapses the past
couple years under Matheny. But Mozeliak noted that that’s been a “focus” under the
interim’s helm and that “if you take a snapshot of the past couple of
weeks, things are improving.”
An
elevation of Shildt to full-time status wouldn’t shock anyone at this
point. He is indeed very close to Mozeliak, who plucked him from nowhere before he
became a disciple of Cardinals legend George Kissell and worked his way
up from coaching in the New York Penn League to manager at Triple-A
Memphis and, eventually, the Cardinals.
“It’s a really great story,” Mozeliak said.
The
Cardinals gave Matheny rope to make his own calls, but also may not
mind having a more collaborative effort between manager and front
office, either. Indeed, in that way, too, Shildt may turn out to be the right fit.
Jon Heyman is Fancred's baseball insider. He publishes his weekly Inside Baseball column each Thursday on the App and FancredSports.com. You can download the App here and interact with Jon by following him right here.