Antonetti Cards' top choice but Tribe wants to keep him

Ken Rosenthal says one candidate for the Cardinals GM position has withdrawn his name while another may find himself in the middle of a bidding war.

White Sox assistant general manager Rick Hahn has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Cardinals' GM position. The question now is whether Indians assistant GM Chris Antonetti will do the same.

Antonetti is the Cardinals' top choice, but the Indians are trying to keep him, according to major-league sources. One way to do it would be to pay Antonetti like a GM. Another would be to assure Antonetti that he eventually would succeed Mark Shapiro, who could move up to club president.

The Cardinals are telling candidates that they would operate with full autonomy, but the reality might be quite different. Manager Tony La Russa and some of the team's top baseball executives are under contract for at least two years. The rise of Jeff Luhnow, vice-president of amateur scouting and player development, led to the departure of GM Walt Jocketty.

If Antonetti rejects the Cardinals, it would increase the chances of interim GM John Mozeliak being named to the position on a more permanent basis.