ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals continued with their restructuring of the baseball operations department Wednesday by promoting Moises Rodriguez to the position of assistant general manager. Rodriguez, who has been with the organization for the past 10 seasons, had been serving as director of international operations.
In his new role, Rodriguez will report to Michael Girsch, who was named the Cardinals' general manager in June when John Mozeliak was promoted to president of baseball operations.
Rodriguez's promotion takes effect immediately, though he will continue to be involved with the organization's international department until a new director is named. At a later date, he and his family will relocate from Jupiter, Fla., to St. Louis.
"We're not going to have an abrupt change," Rodriguez said. "We want to make sure the international department keeps operating at the pace that it's operating in. We'll come up with a plan eventually, but short-term, it's just going to be making sure our international department keeps running. Eventually, I'll back off and start diving into other duties that Mo and Mike need me to carry out."
Rodriguez joined the Cardinals after working in the Major League Baseball Commissioner's Office. With the Cards, he held positions in Major and Minor League operations, international baseball operations and media relations. In his most recent role, Rodriguez oversaw St. Louis' overseas scouting efforts. He also supervised the player development and facility operations at the club's academy in the Dominican Republic.
Under his watch, the Cardinals signed and developed several international prospects, including Carlos Martinez, Oscar Taveras, Alex Reyes, Magneuris Sierra and Sandy Alcantara.
"The biggest thing is that [Rodriguez] has done an amazing job building our international department and had more than earned this opportunity," Girsch said. "That was a lot of the driving force. The fact that Moi and I have complementary skills and don't look at the world in the exact same way is obviously helpful. It's ideal. It makes everyone better. But the biggest thing is Moi has earned it, and it was time to give him the opportunity."