Like everyone else, the news today came as a shock. Not that I'm complaining, I think it's the right move for the team, the timing was just a surprise for me.

Looking to the future, here's my wish list for Bavasi's replacement, in no particular order. Some of these are light on info, but that's because I just spent four hours in a painfully-long City Council meeting for work and I just wanted to get my list out there ASAP. I'll add more information later, possibly even doing a separate writeup on each of my 10 hopefuls...

• Chris Antonetti - Assistant GM for the Cleveland Indians Antonetti's the poster boy for the position over at USSMariner. I would love it if he came here but, while USSM makes a good case for why it'd be a sweet job, I'm not holding my breath.
• Paul DePodesta - Assistant GM for the San Diego Padres
DePo didn't get a fair shake in Los Angeles. But, he's worked under some of the best GMs in recent history in John Hart, Billy Beane and Kevin Towers. His MO is that his personality is better suited in an assistant's role, but I'd like to see the Mariners give him another chance.
• Ben Cherington - Director of Player Development for the Boston Red Sox
Cherington started his front-office career as an intern with the Cleveland Indians in 1998 and joined the Red Sox staff as a scout later that year. The Red Sox have a great thing going, apparently have very close relationships within the front office and Cherington grew up as a Red Sox fan, so he might be tough to lure away from Boston. Listen to an interview with Cherington here: http://www.nhpr.org/audio/audio/fp-2003-01-09.wax
• Jed Hoyer - Assistant GM for the Boston Red Sox
Another member of the Red Sox front office, I'd be calling anyone who has spent time working under Theo Epstein.
• Peter Woodfork - Assistant GM for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Noticing a theme here? Yeah, I want someone young and smart that has worked with successful teams that have a more analytical approach. Woodfork is the assistant GM in Arizona, where he followed Josh Byrnes from Boston.
• Thad Levine - Assistant GM for the Texas Rangers
Levine currently works under Jon Daniels and, before that, worked under Dan O'Dowd in Colorado. Good GM bloodlines, if you ask me.
• Logan White - Assistant GM for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Logan White differs from some of the names on this list because he comes from more of a scouting mold. But, he's masterful at what he does. Check out some of the talent the Dodgers have reeled in during White's tenure: Loney, Broxton, Martin, Billingsley, Kemp, LaRoche, DeWitt & Kershaw.
• David Forst - Assistant GM for the Oakland Athletics
Making the Mariners better while making the A's worse? Music to my ears. I have no idea how much Beane's rubbed off on Forst since he's been the assistant GM since 2000, but I'm sure he'd bring a much-needed change in philosophy this system so desperately needs.
• Bruce Manno - Assistant GM for the Atlanta Braves
I don't know a lot about Manno, but he's been in the game since before I was born. I'll do more research on the guy tomorrow. Right now, I'm wiped...
• Mike Rizzo - Assistant GM for the Washington Nationals
Like Logan White, Rizzo comes from the scouting side, but he's another one of the best in the business. Before heading out to DC, Rizzo was the scouting director for the Diamondbacks from 2000 to 2006. A lot of talent came during that period: Webb, Hairston, Tracy, Uggla, Snyder, Jackson, Quentin, Drew, Reynolds, Upton, Owings, Scherzer, Brett Anderson. Josh Byrnes has an awesome team, but the credit should go to Rizzo.