Cardinals assistant general manager John Abbamondi is leaving the club to accept a vice president position with the San Diego Padres, both teams confirmed Wednesday. Abbamondi, who had been with the Cardinals the past three seasons, will join the Padres in January as their vice president for strategy and business analysis. "It is a very good opportunity for him," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. "I've enjoyed the last three years working with him, and I know he expressed a concern about leaving the baseball side and joining the business side. He can always come back. I told him it's not a door closing on the baseball side, it's just opening a door on the business side."