Mike Shildt's return to St. Louis as Padres manager should have Cards full of regret

The St. Louis Cardinals made a big mistake. They may refuse to admit it, but there's no denying that their decision to terminate Mike Shildt's contract after the 2021 season was one of the worst blunders John Mozeliak and the St. Louis front office has made in quite some time.

If you're a member of the Friar faithful, you may not know the full story surrounding Shildt's firing back in 2021. The Cardinals, who were picked by many pundits to win the NL Central that season, underperformed. A team laden with expensive veterans like Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Yadier Molina needed a 17-game winning streak in September just to sneak into the postseason.

Back then, the NL Wild Card Round featured a one-game play-in, and the Cards fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers after Chris Taylor hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning off T.J. McFarland. Less than two weeks later, the Cardinals fired Shildt and would eventually replace him with Oliver Marmol. Shildt was fired for what Mozeliak called "philosophical differences."

Mike Shildt's return to St. Louis as Padres manager should have Cardinals full of regret

Shildt was heartbroken after being let go by an organization that he'd poured his heart and soul into for 18 years. The current San Diego Padres skipper was a coach and manager in the Cardinals' minor league system for years before taking over after Mike Matheny was let go midway through the 2018 season.

Shildt returned to Busch Stadium this week as the head man in the Padres dugout, and it had to feel good for someone who was somewhat humiliated by his former organization. Shildt rallied that team in 2021, got them into the playoffs, came within an eyelash of beating the reigning World Series champions, and was handed his walking papers. Are you kidding?

Thankfully for Pads fans, Shildt is now making his residence in America's Finest City and has the Friars on the cusp of making it back to the MLB postseason while the fans on the banks of the Mississippi River are none too happy with their current situation. The Milwaukee Brewers have run away with the NL Central this season, and the Cardinals are six games back of the final NL Wild Card spot with just over a month left in the 2024 season.

St. Louis' playoff odds, according to FanGraphs, are less than 2%. If only the Cardinals had a manager who could inspire his ball club to push through the final month of the season and rattle off several wins in a row and make a late-season play for a postseason berth.

Too bad he's in the opposing team's dugout this week at Busch Stadium.

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