Upon relinquishing his GM responsibilities to his top assistant, future Baseball Hall of Fame executive Pat Gillick, in 1978, Bavasi continued as the Blue Jays' president from 1978 to 1981.
[1] His brother Bill, currently the director of the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, also served as an MLB general manager with the California / Anaheim Angels (1994–99) and Seattle Mariners (2004–08).
In 1969, Bavasi was named director of minor league operations for the San Diego Padres expansion team,[3] where his father, Buzzie, was president and de facto general manager.
Bavasi competed with Frank Cashen, whose previous experience was with the Baltimore Orioles, for the position of general manager of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays.
When it came to the development of a team logo, Bavasi sought a symbol as easily recognizable as former Padres owner Ray Kroc's McDonald's golden arches.
Rumours had spread that the Jays were interested in several candidates, including: Joe Altobelli, Billy DeMars, Preston Gómez, Elston Howard, and Warren Spahn.
[7] Bavasi, however, selected Hartsfield, who had enjoyed great success managing the Padres' Triple-A farm team, the Hawaii Islanders, leading them to consecutive Pacific Coast League titles in 1975–76.
Bavasi has also been a strategic advisor to cities seeking Major League Baseball teams, including the successful franchise pursuits in St. Petersburg, Florida (which would result in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays), and most recently[when?]
[11] He and his brother Bill were co-managing partners of the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, a Marysville, California-based collegiate summer league baseball club.