The St. Louis Cardinals are losing hitting coach Mark McGwire to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that assistant hitting coach John Mabry is the leading candidate to take over for McGwire. Mabry was drafted by the Cardinals, and had three different stints with the team as a player.

He was initially hired by the team in December of 2011 to be the teams assistant hitting coach, and now one year later he is looking to be promoted.

In his one year, Mabry was part of an offense that was second in the National League in runs scored, and fifth overall. Plus, the team had the fourth best batting average in all of baseball at .271.

This move is not yet official for Mabry getting the job, but so far he is the only candidate mentioned as a possible replacement for the departing McGwire, who is heading out West.