William Joseph Bavasi (born December 27, 1957) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. He currently works as director of the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, appointed in November 2014. Bavasi previously served as an assistant to the GM for the Cincinnati Reds, under Reds general manager

Walt Jocketty Walt Jocketty (born February 19, 1951) is a baseball executive who is the Executive Adviser to the CEO of the Cincinnati Reds. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he attended the University of Minnesota where he earned a bachelor's degree in business a ...

. The son of longtime MLB executive

Buzzie Bavasi Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi (; December 12, 1914 – May 1, 2008) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who played a major role in the operation of three franchises from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s. He was best known as the ...

and the brother of Peter Bavasi, also a former MLB executive, Bill also spent six full seasons (1994–99) as the general manager of the California/Anaheim Angels and a season stint as GM of the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(2003–08).

California Angels

Bavasi is a graduate of University of San Diego. He began his front office baseball career with the Angels, where his father was front office boss from – 84. Bill was an administrator in the Angels' minor league department from 1981 to 1982, then held the positions of farm system director and Director of Player Development. On January 12, 1994, Bavasi succeeded

Whitey Herzog Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (; born November 9, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career. He made his MLB debut as a player in 1956 wit ...

as the Angels' General Manager. He remained in place when the club was sold by

Jackie Autry Jackie Autry (born Jacqueline Evelyn Ellam; October 2, 1941) is the former owner of the Los Angeles Angels and widow of Gene Autry, actor, singer and businessman. Early life On October 2, 1941, Autry was born in Newark, New Jersey. Career Aut ...

, widow of the team's original owner Gene Autry, to the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. But late-season collapses plagued the franchise, and Bavasi was succeeded by

Bill Stoneman William Hambly Stoneman III (born April 7, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and executive who, during his eight-year (–) pitching career in Major League Baseball, threw two no-hitters; then, as general manager of the Ana ...

on October 1, . After leaving the Angels, Bavasi spent two seasons (–) as player development chief of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Seattle Mariners

On November 7, 2003, Bavasi was named general manager of the

. During his tenure, the club had a total record of 322–395 and achieved only one winning season (88–74 in 2007). On June 16, 2008, with the Mariners holding the worst record in the major leagues at 24–45, Bavasi was fired. Mariners chief executive officer

Howard Lincoln Howard Charles Lincoln (born February 14, 1940) is an American lawyer and businessman, known primarily for being the former Chairman of Nintendo of America and the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Seattle Mariners baseball tea ...

, who made the announcement, said, "Change is in order. We have determined new leadership is needed in the GM position. With a new leader will come a new plan and a new approach." Mariners vice president and associate general manager Lee Pelekoudas was named to take over in the interim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bavasi, Bill 1957 births Living people Anaheim Angels executives California Angels executives Major League Baseball general managers Seattle Mariners executives University of San Diego alumni People from Scarsdale, New York