Mozeliak Named GM

Finally, the wait is over. John Mozeliak is now officially the general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s been serving as the interim GM for the last four weeks, and has already completed new contracts for Jason Isringhausen, Russ Springer, and Joel Pineiro. Mozeliak is very familiar with the Cardinals’ front office. He served as Jocketty’s right hand man for several years, joining the organization in ’95, and has done quite a bit of his own negotiating in the past.

“You don’t necessarily dream about being a general manager, but as you work in the game you start to have aspirations,” Mozeliak said at the press conference. “I really welcome this opportunity.”

Over the weekend, it appeared that Chris Antonetti was the front runner for the position, and that perhaps it was only a matter of formality and waiting for the finish of the World Series. Apparently, Antonnetti was never offered the job. Some say he and others were turned off by the lack of control that the position offered.

Either way, at least the club can now try to continue a successful offseason. Tony La Russa, and his entire coaching staff from last season, will return for ’08. I’m excited to see what Mozeliak can do. He has large shoes to fill, and hopefully can fill in the missing pieces of the roster, and return the Redbirds to contention.

So far, five Cardinals have filed for free agency. Most notably is shortstop David Eckstein, although teams have exclusive negotiating rights to their own free agents until Nov. 12. Eckstein is a Type B free agent. Others include Miguel Cairo, Russel Branyan, Kip Wells, and Troy Percival, also a Type B. No surprises here. I don’t expect any to remain with the club next season.

Read more on these stories from the Post Dispatch, and the team website.