In this hyper-rational era of baseball management, it is typically not too difficult to identify reasons why teams make a major move. You may or may not agree with the move itself, but there is usually an underpinning reason behind it, so there's at least something on which you can base your reaction.
Which is why the St. Louis Cardinals' decision on Thursday to part ways with manager Mike Shildt was so noteworthy. It was, as best I can gather, an out-of-left-field announcement, based on "philosophical difference[s]," a term that has about as much meaning as saying, "Wow, there is weather outside today."
"After a successful 2021 season that ended just over a week ago, we have determined that we have a philosophical difference in the direction that our major league club is going," Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said in a hastily called Zoom press conference on a day when the baseball world was fixed on the epic Game 5 matchup between the Giants and Dodgers. "We feel that at this time it is best for us to end our partnership with Mike Shildt."