FanHouse JerryDipoto

A major league source tells FanHouse "not so fast" on Jerry DiPoto becoming the Nationals' next general manager, as has been reported.

According to the source, acting GM Mike Rizzo -- who has been running the team since Jim Bowden resigned under fire during spring training -- did an impressive enough job in the negotiations to sign No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg (who will be introduced Friday at a news conference) that Washington ownership is still considering giving him the job permanently.

The Lerner family and team president Stan Kasten are keeping their intentions very close to the vest. But the Washington Post reported there are signs Rizzo will get the job.

So the Seattle Mariners fired general manager Bill Bavasi back in June, yet they still haven't made any ground in figuring out who their next general manager is going to be. They've interviewed four candidates for the job, including Kim Ng who would be the first female general manager in baseball history. Aside from Ng, they've also talked to Arizona's Jerry DiPoto, Toronto's Tony LaCava, and Milwaukee's Jack Zduriencik.

Now there was some speculation that the Mariners would announce their choice today, but at the moment it doesn't look like that's going to happen, which could be a problem once the World Series starts tomorrow night. MLB isn't too fond of major announcements during the World Series.

Of course, if the Mariners want to they can ask Bud Selig for a waiver to allow them to dare interrupt the World Series, and though team President Chuck Armstrong says he isn't sure whether or not he's going to ask, I am. He's not, and the Mariners won't have their general manager before the World Series is over anyway.

The reason for this is because they're waiting for Pat Gillick. Gillick is a former Mariners GM, and he's currently the Phillies general manager. He has made it clear, though, that he'd like to retire at the end of the year. I have no doubt that Seattle's plan is to wait out the Series and then gauge Gillick's interest in returning to Seattle as head of baseball operations, and then having him choose the new general manager.