MrRant 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2003 SEATTLE -- Bill Bavasi was hired Friday to replace Pat Gillick as general manager the Seattle Mariners. Bavasi, 45, is the former general manager of the California and Anaheim Angels. "This is a tremendous opportunity for me," he said. "The Mariners' franchise is one of the elite franchises in all of baseball. I am looking forward to getting to work immediately." During Bavasi's 16-year tenure with the Angels as farm director, assistant general manager and general manager, the team acquired and developed many of the players that helped it win the 2002 World Series, including Troy Percival, Troy Glaus, Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson and Francisco Rodriguez. Buzzie Bavasi, the father of the new Seattle GM, was the longtime general manager of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, and later became GM of the Angels and president of the San Diego Padres. Bill Bavasi worked for the Padres' operations department and grounds crew from 1974-78, and was with the Angels from 1980-99, serving as GM during his final six seasons. He spent the past two years as the Dodgers' director of player development. Seattle has won 93 games in each of the past two seasons but missed the playoffs both times, and Gillick, 66, quit Sept. 30, but emphasized he wasn't retiring. The Mariners made it to the AL championship series in 2000 and 2001, twice losing to the New York Yankees. "While we considered many very qualified individuals, Bill was our top pick and we believe he is the best person to lead the club," Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln said. Mariners vice president Benny Looper was considered strongly by Lincoln as Gillick's successor. Although the Mariners re-signed designated hitter Edgar Martinez this week, eight Seattle players became free agents, including center fielder Mike Cameron and reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa Cameron won his second Gold Glove this season and Hasegawa, an All-Star for the first time, finished the year as the Mariners' closer. After the 2002 season, the Mariners let manager Lou Piniella go to Tampa Bay and Lincoln hired Bob Melvin to replace him. In addition to Bavasi's father, two Bavasi brothers have made their mark in baseball. Brother Peter was president of the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians, and brother Bob was the longtime owner of the Class A Everett franchise of the Northwest League. Everett is 30 miles north of Seattle and is a Mariners franchise. Gillick, general manager for the past four seasons, quit Sept. 30. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2003 Do does this means the M's will be competitive after the All-Star break?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
