It was officially announced this afternoon at 4PM that Walt Jocketty has been dismissed as the St. Louis Cardinals General Manager. Apparently, the team and Jocketty "cordially and respectfully parted ways" during a Wednesday morning meeting. I would rather imagine that Jocketty and Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. fought tooth and nail over the direction of the team. You know, something along the lines of what's going to happen in the new Discovery Channel show "Last One Standing". Tribe members fighting to the death. Unorthodox fighting methods, Festivals of Death and indigenous tribal people. Now, that would be fun.
Jocketty's contract was supposed to run until the end of the 2008 season, but he and DeWitt reached a financial settlement for Jocketty's departure. John Mozeliak, Jocketty's Assistant General Manger has been named interim GM for the time being and will most likely be in the running for the position.
The last year or so has been a rough one for Jocketty as management has made a few power plays against him. Jocketty was not allowed time and time again by management to open up the wallet to lure free agents to St. Louis. However, the main sticking point was the decision to promote Jeff Luhnow over one of Jocketty's lackeys to the position of VP of Amateur Scouting and Player Development. However, Luhnow isn't expected to be in the running for the GM position.
The decision to get rid of Jocketty could also end up affecting the decision of Tony La Russa to stay or go. DeWitt has already personally vouched that he wants TLR back in the dugout next season. I still think there is a decent chance that TLR does come back as I've heard rumors of TLR stating that he and Jocketty are NOT a package deal. There are also rumors floating around that management has promised TLR the acquisition of two prominent everyday players and two starting pitchers. A promise like that will undoubtedly push the Cardinals payroll plenty north of the $100 million mark. A mark that management has feverishly tried to stay below the last couple of years.
The departure of Jocketty is a somewhat bittersweet one. He helped bring the club back to prominence in the NL. I'll let this paragraph from the Post-Dispatch tell of his accomplishments while with the Cardinals.
"Hired by Cardinals president Mark Lamping in 1994, Jocketty played a
leading role in turning the franchise into one of the most successful
in Major League Baseball. During his 13-year reign, the Cardinals won
six NL Central division championships, one wild card playoff berth, two
National League pennants and the 2006 World Series championships. The
team's streak of seven consecutive winning seasons came to an end this
season."
The fans are going to miss Jocketty, that much is certain. They've come to know him as a man who can get the most out of veteran players and find reclamation projects that work. In the last few years, Jocketty's success at these two key areas of his GM style have been less than stellar. Perhaps it was time for Jocketty to move on (Cincinnati anyone?). Perhaps this will work out better for the Cardinals, as it was somewhat obvious that they needed to build up a farm system and look for younger everyday players. Goodbye Walt. Thanks for everything you've done for the St. Louis Cardinals!
I believe I read somewhere that with the contracts of Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen and Carpenter that their payroll is already creeping up to $80 million for next season. It would be hard to get 21 more players on roster for less than $100 million.
2008 Cubs Preview
I'll bet whole Cobra coverage of the Kip Wells thing was the straw that broke the camels back. Blame Cobra.
I'd imagine this means LaRussa is soon to follow?
I believe I read somewhere that with the contracts of Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen and Carpenter that their payroll is already creeping up to $80 million for next season. It would be hard to get 21 more players on roster for less than $100 million.
So, where does Jocketty go now?
They have $84 million committed to 12 players next year. So they only need to get 13. Piece of cake! Ha.
Condolences on last weekend...
http://badchoicemilk.blogspot.com/2007/09/blogger-invitational-week-four.html
sorry I couldn't put up more of a fight...i missed the draft and i'm dealing with a horrendous team