Abbamondi Named New Cardinals Assistant GM

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the hiring of John Abbamondi as assistant general manager.

On Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced the hiring of John Abbamondi as assistant general manager. Abbamondi replaces his new boss John Mozeliak, who was promoted to general manager on October 31.

Abbamondi spent the last four seasons working for Major League Baseball in New York, most recently as their senior director, labor economics. With MLB, Abbamondi was heavily involved in working with teams on salary arbitration, player contracts and negotiations and revenue sharing. He was a key member behind the scenes as MLB hammered out the 2006 Basic Agreement with the player’s union and helped develop MLB’s new revenue sharing system. Abbamondi also served as a consultant for MLB Advanced Media and attended MLB’s Scout Development Program last season.

Abbamondi seems well qualified for the job based on the breadth of his experience with MLB. Their Labor Relations Department serves as internal consultants to the 30 clubs, advising team executives on issues like salary arbitration, contract negotiations, industry economics and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as well as interpretations of Major League rules. The group is also responsible for daily administration and enforcement of various CBA provisions, including MLB's competitive balance tax and its rules on debt servicing and deferred player compensation. Externally, the Labor Relations Department is responsible for managing MLB's relationships with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the World Umpires Association.

“We are excited to add someone with a large amount of background and expertise” said Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak. “John brings a lot of experience to the organization, not only in arbitration matters, but also in contract valuation and many other skills that will add greatly to our baseball operations.”

Prior to joining Major League Baseball, Abbamondi spent nine years as a Naval Flight Officer flying EA-6B Prowlers in the U.S. Navy, including a tour of duty in the Persian Gulf. He received his bachelor's degree in 1993 from MIT and his Masters of Business Administration degree from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 2004.

At one point, Abbamondi was a McKinsey and Company intern, also a former employer of Cardinals VP Jeff Luhnow. Abbamondi has extensive public speaking experience, including having served on the faculty of New York University’s College of Continuing and Professional Studies.



Brian Walton can be reached via email at [e-mail].

© 2007 stlcardinals.scout.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.