The Los Angeles Dodgers may have had a disappointing start to the offseason, but the MLB's second-most valuable franchise has recovered a bit since losing Zack Greinke and watching deals fall apart with Aroldis Chapman and Hisashi Iwakuma.
On Tuesday the Dodgers officially announced the hiring of former Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. The 38-year-old is now the Dodgers' vice president of baseball operations.
Today, the #Dodgers announced the hiring of Alex Anthopoulos as Vice President, Baseball Operations.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 12, 2016
#BREAKING: Alex Anthopoulos officially joins #Dodgers as VP of baseball operations. https://t.co/btaq9ieF5w pic.twitter.com/hzueUPP49O
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 12, 2016
He'll join president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, general manager Farhan Zaidi and vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes in what is regarded as the brightest front office in the MLB.
"We are thrilled to be bringing Alex on board," Friedman said in a team press release, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. "Farhan, Josh, and myself all have longstanding relationships with him and believe his experience and perspective will be a tremendous asset to our organization."
Rumors surfaced last week in regards to the Dodgers hiring Anthopoulos, but it was said an announcement was not imminent and it was unknown was role he would undertake in the front office. Now that it's confirmed, Anthopoulos' chapter in Toronto is officially over.
Anthopoulos left Toronto in October after taking the Blue Jays to the postseason for the first time since 1993. They also captured their first AL East title and made their first ALCS appearance since 1993 a few short months ago. The Jays hired new president and CEO Mark Shapiro to succeed Paul Beeston in August and Shapiro was reportedly given final say over personnel decisions. Anthopoulos had that privilege during his tenure as general manager, so when he was offered a five-year contract to work under the new president, he respectfully declined and said it wasn't "the right fit."
That was the same day he was named the Sports News Executive of the Year.
Reports also suggested Shapiro and Anthopoulos did not get off on the right foot upon meeting one another. Shapiro reportedly reprimanded Anthopoulos for trading away so many prospects at the non-waiver deadline in the deals that netted the Blue Jays Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, Ben Revere, Mark Lowe and LaTroy Hawkins.
Whatever the case, Anthopoulos has a new home now and he's probably not upset about being in California.
