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Walt Jocketty Fired

Via Viva, the Cards are going to get another GM.

Assistant general manager John Mozeliak has been named interim GM by Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and is a candidate to succeed Jocketty on a full-time basis.

Jocketty's contract runs through 2008 and he apparently reached terms on a financial settlement with DeWitt in a meeting Wednesday morning.

In the meeting, DeWitt informed Jocketty that the franchise was moving forward without him and thanked Jocketty for his service.

It's expected that DeWitt will explain his reasons for what appears to be a dismissal, rather than a Jocketty resignation, during the news conference.

But Jocketty's unhappiness has been an open secret at Busch Stadium and around baseball circles.

Jocketty mostly did a decent job with the Cards, particularly with veterans. He got Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds in trades for pennies on the dollar and got Chris Carpenter for virtually nothing, thus assembling much of the core of the Cardinals' 2006 championship team. He leaves his successor with quite a mess, though - he's never been much for building from within (possibly partly because he can depend on St. Louis' reputation as a nice place for veterans to play), so their farm system isn't the best, and their pitching is in terrible shape. Meanwhile, Edmonds and Rolen are likely done, and Carpenter's on the shelf.