I wrote this yesterday:
Chris Antonetti is perfect for the St. Louis Cardinals, and vice versa. If the world makes sense, they will dominate the National League Central for the foreseeable future.
Turns out Antonetti and the Cardinals weren’t as close to a deal as we all thought.
Maybe we shouldn’t assume anything about Antonetti. Logically, he should become a great general manager somewhere. And I’m not sure there’s a better spot than St. Louis, outside of New York and Boston.
But this was a team that fired its general manager because he couldn’t get along with an analytically-inclined subordinate. All of the other candidates for the job came from stats-friendly teams. Even Antonetti said he was “blown away” and “immensely impressed” with Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt.
Maybe, just maybe, Antonetti isn’t as impressive in person as he is on the blogosphere.
But there’s a part of my brain that doesn’t quite buy that explanation, and there is some circumstantial evidence that Bill DeWitt may have simply crapped out. For one thing, Tony La Russa is coming back. And DeWitt has been torn apart in the press for dumping a solid “baseball man” just a year off of a World Series title. It’s possible that this was DeWitt compromising.
Then again, maybe there’s more to John Mozeliak. We really don’t know anything about him, except that he was with the Cards throughout Walt Jocketty’s tenure. Maybe he’ll be a great GM, and DeWitt really did make the best move for his business.
But if he didn’t, the Cards just lost an amazing opportunity. As I said yesterday, with Antonetti on board, and with Albert Pujols playing at a below market salary for the next three years, St. Louis could have become a dominant force in a sub-par league.
It’s certainly still possible, but it’s also possible Bill DeWitt just opened the door for the Cubs. Good for the Indians, I guess.
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