FanHouse ChrisAntonetti

Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln announced that GM Bill Bavasi has been officially relieved of duties, naming Vice President/Associate GM Lee Pelekoudas as the team's interim GM. From the team's press release:

"Change is in order." Lincoln said. "We have determined new leadership is needed in the GM position. With a new leader will come a new plan and a new approach. A search will begin immediately for a permanent GM, and Lee will be a candidate for the position."

Bavasi served as the Mariners' general manager since 2003, during which time the team has posted two winning seasons while going through three managers. He's responsible for the monster contracts given to Richie Sexson, Adrian Beltre, and Carlos Silva, not to mention trading Carlos Guillen for Ramon Santiao, one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory. Adding insult to injury, he's also the last GM to sign Jeff Weaver to a big league contract.

After almost a month, the Cardinals have finally filled the GM position vacated when they parted ways with Walt Jocketty back in the beginning of October, naming John Mozeliak their new GM this afternoon. This isn't terribly surprising given that he was Jocketty's assistant, the Cardinals just won the World Series a year ago, and he was the interim-GM while they Cardinals looked for Jocketty's replacement. Still, there were rumblings the Cardinals were after Indians' Assistant GM Chris Antonetti and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch kind of makes it sound like Mozeliak only got the job because Antonetti didn't want it:

The Cardinals will announce John Mozeliak as their next general manager today at a 3 p.m. press conference after formally offering him the job Tuesday evening, club sources confirm.

Mozeliak accepted a three-year contract shortly after discussions broke down with Cleveland Indians assistant general manager Chris Antonetti, who interviewed in St. Louis last Friday with club president Mark Lamping.

Nothing like being the second choice for the job! In all seriousness, with Tony La Russa and his entire coaching staff coming back, it makes a lot of sense that the Cards want to keep some continuity in the way the team is run. Jocketty left (was forced out, whatever) not because he did a bad job, but because he didn't get along with ownership. The Cards could do much worse than continuing to do things the way they were done when Jocketty was around.

Previously at FanHouse
The Cardinals Met With Chris Antonetti

Even with the World Series in full swing, some teams haven't stopped their day-to-day operations. The Cardinals' GM search is in full swing and they appear to be zeroing in on a replacement for Walt Jocketty. From today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The Cardinals won't call Chris Antonetti the front-runner to become their next general manager, but the club did call the up-and-coming Cleveland Indians executive and his wife to Busch Stadium for a meeting Friday morning with team president Mark Lamping and a tour of the facility.

Antonetti, assistant general manager to Indians GM Mark Shapiro, has made a strong impression in several conversations with the search committee of Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt and Lamping. Though Friday's tour of the stadium front offices, home clubhouse and field does not assure Antonetti will become Walt Jocketty's successor, it does confirm the organization is nearing completion of a process tailored to make room for Antonetti's candidacy.

Antonetti was Mark Shapiro's assistant GM in a year when three of the last four GMs standing in the playoffs all worked for Shapiro's old boss, John Hart, which means that he's basically got his choice of general manager jobs. The other open jobs this year (the Astros and Pirates) mostly pale in comparison to a job like the Cardinals', so it wouldn't be much of a surprise for Antonetti to end up in St. Louis.