On Oct. 29, 2015, Sporting News named Alex Anthopoulos its MLB Executive of the Year. That very same day, he rejected a five-year contract to remain general manager of the Blue Jays, ending his association with the team after 12 years.
Now, a little more than two years later, Anthopoulos is again a general manager in the major leagues, hired by the Braves on Monday.
In speaking with reporters Tuesday at the GMs meetings in Orlando, Fla., Anthopoulos made it sound like the past two weeks waiting to hear if he got the job in Atlanta was a lot longer than the two years he was between jobs as a general manager while working in the front office of the Dodgers.
"I didn't think it was good for me and my mental state to think about it too much," Anthopoulos said, "so I just buried myself in work with LA In that two-week period I didn't spend any time on the Braves, didn't look at Atlanta, didn't look at houses, didn't do any of that. There were times you think about when you are going to hear, but Sunday (Braves president) John Hart called and told me I was their choice and I was ecstatic that he called and ecstatic we were able to get a deal done."
Check out the impressive resume of new @Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos.#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/8yL8VAmULf
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) November 13, 2017
Anthopoulos emphasized that he was happy working for the Dodgers as the team's vice president of baseball operations and did not seek GM openings; however, after being contacted by the Braves during the World Series and subsequently meeting with Hart and Braves CEO and chairman Terry McGuirk, Anthopoulos knew he "really wanted" the job.
"I'd been a general manager. I’d done it," Anthopoulos, 40, explained. "I didn't feel like I had a marker to hit. I was at peace with my career, even though I was still young. I didn’t need to be a general manager again. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t open to it or certainly excited if the right opportunity presented itself, but I was more concerned with enjoying what I was doing and who I was working with."
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Now he'll be working alongside Hart, a former GM of the Indians and Rangers.
"I have all the confidence in the world in (Hart) and his judgment," said Anthopoulos.
So much so that the new GM is not about to make any changes to the coaching staff, including manager Brian Snitker, who was retained by Hart after early offseason front office turmoil this fall.
"You're not going to see any of that at all," Anthopoulos responded when asked if changes could occur. "The staff is in place, the work has been done. I want to give everyone an opportunity."
And his Blue Jays experience becomes more of a distant memory.