General 2020 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[Carlos Danger]

And Atkins did it with like 60% of the salary budget AA had. There's really no doubt Atkins is the better GM.

 

Listen, I love Biggio, Bichette and some others. I appreciate the farm system is much better then under AA. However, at the end of the day, the goal is to win a WS and at least go far in the playoffs so as many have said you increase your chances year after year to win the WS.

 

I don't believe you can consider making the playoffs this season and out in 2 the same as winning the AL East and going to game 6 of the NCLS. 2016 was a 65-35 split effort 65% being AA. The Miami Marlins made the playoffs this year and actually won a few games. Everyone on this board told me the Marlins suck!!

 

We have a better looking, more exciting and sustainable long term business plan under Atkins/Shapiro at the moment, but we still still need to see the results before we proclaim Atkins anything.

 

AA should start 100 points ahead just for the Josh Donaldson trade. If there is any player I want to dump from the Jays it is Randall Grichuk.. That is/was Atkins biggest contract/extension prior to Ryu..

 

Still too much to be determined IMO.. Great to have a good farms and young players, need to bring it home though. That is the tricky part or San Diego would have 10 WS wins.

[glory]

AA walking away from the Jays was probably the smartest thing he ever did. He knew he had one foot out the door in 2015, so he went all in, and then left on the highest of high notes after ending a 20 year drought knowing that he didn't have to deal with the consequences afterwards. Then he takes over a job in Atlanta where someone else did all the grunt work and he just has to sign one or two free agents on one year deals every year because the rest of the roster/farm is set for him for the foreseeable future. If he stayed in Toronto and had to suffer the stench of 2017-19, then his stock drops. Boss move(s).

 

I think AA leaving and Atkins taking over worked out desirably for everyone involved. Atkins, while I have been critical of some of his moves in isolation, has overall done a very fine job in rebuilding the farm system and putting the team in position to be a long term contender very soon. I don't think AA coming off 2015 would have been as patient had he stayed.

[Jimcanuck]

Listen, I love Biggio, Bichette and some others. I appreciate the farm system is much better then under AA. However, at the end of the day, the goal is to win a WS and at least go far in the playoffs so as many have said you increase your chances year after year to win the WS.

 

I don't believe you can consider making the playoffs this season and out in 2 the same as winning the AL East and going to game 6 of the NCLS. 2016 was a 65-35 split effort 65% being AA. The Miami Marlins made the playoffs this year and actually won a few games. Everyone on this board told me the Marlins suck!!

 

We have a better looking, more exciting and sustainable long term business plan under Atkins/Shapiro at the moment, but we still still need to see the results before we proclaim Atkins anything.

 

AA should start 100 points ahead just for the Josh Donaldson trade. If there is any player I want to dump from the Jays it is Randall Grichuk.. That is/was Atkins biggest contract/extension prior to Ryu..

 

Still too much to be determined IMO.. Great to have a good farms and young players, need to bring it home though. That is the tricky part or San Diego would have 10 WS wins.

 

There is a time for everything. Keep in mind that we might have never have seen Tellez / Teoscar emergences by a less patient AA approach where the Jays sign FA and trade prospects for veterans. Hell, remember last off season and a lot of guys here were promoting signing EE and kicking Tellez to the curb?

 

I don't think it's the right time now to load up the roster with Bryants and Darvishes and Happs and Odorizzis. Maybe 1 or 2 of such players at most. Reason being I believe there will be other young players emerging next year, Hatch and Murphy being the most likely in my mind. But they need the opportunity.

 

2021 should be another cautious year, give the youth a chance to flourish. If the Jays find themselves comfortably above .500 at the deadline, sure move a Kloff or someone for a needed upgrade.

 

I've said it many times before, the Jays time to win WS will come when Pearson and SWR are both with the big club and contributing. At that point they will have the balance of cost controlled talent and budget room to field a top contender.

[Vdubfan]

Oh good, we are doing the AA vs current FO thing again!

 

My quick breakdown is this:

 

AA had some incredible strengths (persistence, keeping things quiet, contract extensions, media savvy). Through no fault of his own, his only front office experience being in Toronto hindered his ability to grow and come to appreciate some of the critical things more well rounded front offices value (analytics, r&d, resources for minor leaguers, etc). This left AA as a guy who seemed to perform well at the surface level (what most fans see), while falling behind in areas that would seemingly show themselves over the coming decade. So Shapiro disagreement aside, AA made a really smart career move to go work for and learn from the Dodgers. This put him in position to be a high performing executive moving forward, and I'd be quite fine with him being in charge of my team.

 

However, I also fully believe in what Shapiro has built and cultivated in Toronto, and I wouldn't want it any other way (unless the alternative options were TB/LAD front offices).

 

In summary, both execs are fine in their own way, but I don't think we'd be in great shape if AA had never left and was given the keys by Shapiro.

[metafour]

So, your first novel had some good points. However, if I really had the time I could counter every example it did not work with a number where it did work. The Blue Jays have one more WS win then the Braves the past 25 years, yet the Braves were in the playoffs a LOT more. The Cubs have the same amount of WS wins in the last 20 years as the Dodgers. I disagree with my friend BTS that the Cubs win without Chapman. Blue Jays do not win in 92 without Cone. Blue Jays do not get to playoffs in 2015 without those moves.

 

Much like movie sequels, part II of your novel is no where near as good as part one. Your very first premise is dead wrong. AA was offered a contract, a large contract $$ wise. He had NO fear that Shapiro was going to kick him out and replace him. (unless he was prepared to eat a large contract)

 

You and I and no one on this board knows exactly what happened behind the scenes. You don't need to get legalize with what autonomy means. It is well known in all major league sports that many GMs have more autonomy as far as player decisions then others and more independence then others. Baseball, NFL, Basketball and Hockey.

 

This is what was predominant in the media the end of the 2015 season. Shapiro and AA had lunch, met, meeting or whatever and Shapiro was critical of AA, "selling the farm".

 

AA, a Canadian kid on the only Canadian team, who just experienced the greatest high in Canadian sport in 20 plus years, names Executive of the year, offered a multi- million dollar contract, loved by the media and fans at that time, still in his 30's, walks away.. Why??? It is industry consensus that it had to do with the "power" for lack of a better term that AA would have under Shapiro vs Beaston.

 

I can empathize with how he feels if I in my job kept my current title but someone new came in and said we are basically going to limit by inference or directly my independence and ability to act autonomously. I know I would be pissed. AA was a star at the time on a high, so what was it other than that, why he left??

 

Not directed at you, but this theory floating around that AA is anti-Sabre is not true if you believe AA's own words. If you watch any interviews with him post Jays, he specifically says he models himself after Theo Epstein who is a fusion of analytics (Sabre) and some traditional ways of assessing players, and that actually, as he gained experience, he move towards that positon from a more analytics based philosophy when he started. Epstein is obviously a very successful Baseball Executive and I have no issue with my GM wanting to emulate his success.

 

You are the one pedaling falsehoods as facts, and being Hyperbolic when you don’t even realize AA was offered a contract to stay, the rest of your points on this matter become background noise. Lastly, I have prefaced in every post I have made that I do not know anything anybody else on here does, I am just a fan looking at it from 50, 000ft and reading what was put out in the media. I have never tried to imply anything I am posting about GMs decisions is fact. Fine if you don’t like or agree with my opinions, but please stop being dishonest and projecting that I am posting facts.

 

So you actually didn't present any counter arguments at all. I'm well aware that AA was offered a multi year contract, and my post even mentioned that. However, that multi-year contract would come under a rebuild. Rebuilding a team is not easy nor is it a guarantee to succeed, most certainly not in the AL East. The risk there for AA is that if the rebuild falters - he's going to be the first guy shown the door by the new President (Shapiro). So why take that risk when he also had the option to walk out on the highest of highs which would make him one of the primary options for every job opening that would come up? Your later point answers your own question: he was still in his 30's and therefore had all sorts of time to regroup and wait for a more favourable opening to come along. You state that he left because Shapiro wouldn't give him autonomy (complete BS because he gave Antonetti autonomy in Cleveland and obviously gives this current FO autonomy) and yet he willingly took a job in Los Angeles for two years wherein he wasn't even the GM, and was also working under a President (Friedman) who is quite obviously considerably more hands on than Shapiro. He took THAT job because its the most safe "transition" job imaginable - working under an elite team in the prime of their competitive window. His reputation would only increase by adding "worked under Andrew Friedman" to his resume, and thus using that he was able to turn down the Twins and then eventually fall into a dream scenario in Atlanta wherein the rebuild was already completed by Coppolela, and he just had to steer the ship into the playoffs.

 

So instead of driving a challenging rebuild in the AL East, he was able to parlay his 2015 success into a job wherein someone else already did all of the heavy lifting for him - in an easier division to boot. Not only that, but he ALSO left because with Shapiro coming in, his path to becoming the eventual President in the Jays organization was now blocked. Yes, he could have stayed here as the GM - but unless Shapiro walked out on his own, Anthopolous would need to eventually leave anyway if he had visions of ascending in his career. Note how in Atlanta that window was already opened for him. After only two seasons with the team he was promoted to Team President - on top of retaining his duties as GM. So now he actually DOES have "full autonomy". The guy simply made a move for his own personal benefit, and he executed it perfectly. Can't even blame the man as looking out for himself should be his primary focus, and he quite clearly knows how to work the system in his favour to do so given his noted rise from the mail-room to now the President of an MLB team. All of the crap about him leaving Toronto because Shapiro wouldn't give him autonomy is window dressing that he used perfectly to maintain his public perception as the knight in shining armour, while the guys that came after him had to do the dirty work of disassembling and rebuilding an old and rapidly declining roster that had no chance of future playoff success.

[saskjayfan]

And Atkins did it with like 60% of the salary budget AA had. There's really no doubt Atkins is the better GM.

 

Yes, but some of our guys are pre-date Atkins. Atkins didn't want to draft high school players in 2016. Long term scouts wanted Bo Bichette ahead of Woodman. They lost that battle as we took Woodman first and Brian Parker fought tooth and nail to take Bo with their next pick. He was fired 2 months later. So Atkins gets credit for Bo, but he never saw him play and it was hold over scouts from the previous regime that drafted one of our most important young pieces.

 

GMs get credit for a lot of things that can be attributed to luck. You want to draft this player, but another team takes him and you settle for a guy who ends up being far better. You trade for a player who you think could provide some value, but he ends up being a star and you would never have imagined he had that upside.

 

Pearson is a stud. That's the Atkins regime. Lourdes was a fantastic signing. Teoscar is looking amazing. Biggio is a wonderful young player.

 

I believe Kirk is going to be a stud, but Tinnish has been with the Jays forever and long time area scout Dean Decillis brought him into the fold. You don't think we would have had Kirk if AA was our GM? Alex wouldn't go against the same guys who worked when he was a GM to sign a guy for 30K.

 

This comparing of the 2 GMs and declaring one is better than the other gets old after awhile. You probably need 3 decades of work to see if a guy is a really good GM and by that point they are ready to retire!

 

I'd rather focus on the Jays of today and what we need to do. Unfortunately the offseason moves at a snails pace so it's easy to get side tracked with this crap.

[saskjayfan]

So you actually didn't present any counter arguments at all. I'm well aware that AA was offered a multi year contract, and my post even mentioned that. However, that multi-year contract would come under a rebuild. Rebuilding a team is not easy nor is it a guarantee to succeed, most certainly not in the AL East. The risk there for AA is that if the rebuild falters - he's going to be the first guy shown the door by the new President (Shapiro). So why take that risk when he also had the option to walk out on the highest of highs which would make him one of the primary options for every job opening that would come up? Your later point answers your own question: he was still in his 30's and therefore had all sorts of time to regroup and wait for a more favourable opening to come along. You state that he left because Shapiro wouldn't give him autonomy (complete BS because he gave Antonetti autonomy in Cleveland and obviously gives this current FO autonomy) and yet he willingly took a job in Los Angeles for two years wherein he wasn't even the GM, and was also working under a President (Friedman) who is quite obviously considerably more hands on than Shapiro. He took THAT job because its the most safe "transition" job imaginable - working under an elite team in the prime of their competitive window. His reputation would only increase by adding "worked under Andrew Friedman" to his resume, and thus using that he was able to turn down the Twins and then eventually fall into a dream scenario in Atlanta wherein the rebuild was already completed by Coppolela, and he just had to steer the ship into the playoffs.

 

So instead of driving a challenging rebuild in the AL East, he was able to parlay his 2015 success into a job wherein someone else already did all of the heavy lifting for him - in an easier division to boot. Not only that, but he ALSO left because with Shapiro coming in, his path to becoming the eventual President in the Jays organization was now blocked. Yes, he could have stayed here as the GM - but unless Shapiro walked out on his own, Anthopolous would need to eventually leave anyway if he had visions of ascending in his career. Note how in Atlanta that window was already opened for him. After only two seasons with the team he was promoted to Team President - on top of retaining his duties as GM. So now he actually DOES have "full autonomy". The guy simply made a move for his own personal benefit, and he executed it perfectly. Can't even blame the man as looking out for himself should be his primary focus, and he quite clearly knows how to work the system in his favour to do so given his noted rise from the mail-room to now the President of an MLB team. All of the crap about him leaving Toronto because Shapiro wouldn't give him autonomy is window dressing that he used perfectly to maintain his public perception as the knight in shining armour, while the guys that came after him had to do the dirty work of disassembling and rebuilding an old and rapidly declining roster that had no chance of future playoff success.

 

We weren't under a rebuild. We made the playoffs in 2016. I don't recall any bold decisions of a tear down. We never traded Donaldson in 2017. We offered Encarnacion a 4 year deal in 2017. That didn't seem like a rebuild move. We signed Morales in 2017 to a 3 year deal. That wasn't a rebuild move.

[Jimcanuck]

I'd rather focus on the Jays of today and what we need to do. Unfortunately the offseason moves at a snails pace so it's easy to get side tracked with this crap.

 

And will stay slow until after the Dec 2 non-tender deadline, then I am expecting all hell to break loose.

[saskjayfan]

6 man rotation? Is it possible the Jays and other teams look to a 6 man rotation? With the lack of innings last year, are teams going to be cautious and try and protect arms? With a kid like Pearson I'm guessing they are going to limit his innings.

[Jimcanuck]

6 man rotation? Is it possible the Jays and other teams look to a 6 man rotation? With the lack of innings last year, are teams going to be cautious and try and protect arms? With a kid like Pearson I'm guessing they are going to limit his innings.

 

A couple of MLB executives have stated they expect a 170 innings limit on all pitchers in 2021. Bauer excepted, of course.

 

This increases the chances we see guys like SWR next season.

[saskjayfan]

A couple of MLB executives have stated they expect a 170 innings limit on all pitchers in 2021. Bauer excepted, of course.

 

This increases the chances we see guys like SWR next season.

 

I would say the chance of us seeing SWR are almost zero. He's pitched 28.1 innings at A+ ball and hasn't pitched more than 106 innings in a season and had to take last year off.

[The Cats Ass]

So, your first novel had some good points. However, if I really had the time I could counter every example it did not work with a number where it did work. The Blue Jays have one more WS win then the Braves the past 25 years, yet the Braves were in the playoffs a LOT more. The Cubs have the same amount of WS wins in the last 20 years as the Dodgers. I disagree with my friend BTS that the Cubs win without Chapman. Blue Jays do not win in 92 without Cone. Blue Jays do not get to playoffs in 2015 without those moves.

 

Much like movie sequels, part II of your novel is no where near as good as part one. Your very first premise is dead wrong. AA was offered a contract, a large contract $$ wise. He had NO fear that Shapiro was going to kick him out and replace him. (unless he was prepared to eat a large contract)

 

You and I and no one on this board knows exactly what happened behind the scenes. You don't need to get legalize with what autonomy means. It is well known in all major league sports that many GMs have more autonomy as far as player decisions then others and more independence then others. Baseball, NFL, Basketball and Hockey.

 

This is what was predominant in the media the end of the 2015 season. Shapiro and AA had lunch, met, meeting or whatever and Shapiro was critical of AA, "selling the farm".

 

AA, a Canadian kid on the only Canadian team, who just experienced the greatest high in Canadian sport in 20 plus years, names Executive of the year, offered a multi- million dollar contract, loved by the media and fans at that time, still in his 30's, walks away.. Why??? It is industry consensus that it had to do with the "power" for lack of a better term that AA would have under Shapiro vs Beaston.

 

I can empathize with how he feels if I in my job kept my current title but someone new came in and said we are basically going to limit by inference or directly my independence and ability to act autonomously. I know I would be pissed. AA was a star at the time on a high, so what was it other than that, why he left??

 

Not directed at you, but this theory floating around that AA is anti-Sabre is not true if you believe AA's own words. If you watch any interviews with him post Jays, he specifically says he models himself after Theo Epstein who is a fusion of analytics (Sabre) and some traditional ways of assessing players, and that actually, as he gained experience, he move towards that positon from a more analytics based philosophy when he started. Epstein is obviously a very successful Baseball Executive and I have no issue with my GM wanting to emulate his success.

 

You are the one pedaling falsehoods as facts, and being Hyperbolic when you don’t even realize AA was offered a contract to stay, the rest of your points on this matter become background noise. Lastly, I have prefaced in every post I have made that I do not know anything anybody else on here does, I am just a fan looking at it from 50, 000ft and reading what was put out in the media. I have never tried to imply anything I am posting about GMs decisions is fact. Fine if you don’t like or agree with my opinions, but please stop being dishonest and projecting that I am posting facts.

 

Blue Jays have 0 WS wins in the past 25 years. So how do they have 1 more then the Braves?

 

In the past 26 years (since the strike) the Braves have made it to the WS 3 times, winning it once. And have played in the NL Championship Series 7 times. I'd much rather have that than the 2 AL Championship losses the Jays put up.

[Jimcanuck]

I would say the chance of us seeing SWR are almost zero. He's pitched 28.1 innings at A+ ball and hasn't pitched more than 106 innings in a season and had to take last year off.

 

He didn't take last year off. In a normal MiLB season he would have spent half or more of 2020 in AA. Instead he was sharpening his pitches in camp. It wasn't a lost year.

 

This just out...... https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-farm-system-analysis-2020

 

"Right-handers Pearson, Woods Richardson and Alek Manoah (No. 5) all look like future rotation candidates for the organization and could pitch together in the big leagues sooner than expected."

 

When I say we might see SWR in 2021, I mean for some bullpen duty, maybe a start or two. Like 15-20 innings purely to lessen workload for the other pitchers.

[Krylian]

6 man rotation? Is it possible the Jays and other teams look to a 6 man rotation? With the lack of innings last year, are teams going to be cautious and try and protect arms? With a kid like Pearson I'm guessing they are going to limit his innings.

 

Seems hard enough to find 5 solid starters. How viable is finding a 6th?

[The Cats Ass]

Yes, but some of our guys are pre-date Atkins. Atkins didn't want to draft high school players in 2016. Long term scouts wanted Bo Bichette ahead of Woodman. They lost that battle as we took Woodman first and Brian Parker fought tooth and nail to take Bo with their next pick. He was fired 2 months later. So Atkins gets credit for Bo, but he never saw him play and it was hold over scouts from the previous regime that drafted one of our most important young pieces.

 

And AA inherited both Bautista and Edwin. So it was the previous regime that traded for two of the most important pieces in the playoff runs.

[Krylian]

And AA inherited both Bautista and Edwin. So it was the previous regime that traded for two of the most important pieces in the playoff runs.

 

It's been documented that AA pushed for the Bautista trade and that really was his baby.

[Carlos Danger]

Blue Jays have 0 WS wins in the past 25 years. So how do they have 1 more then the Braves?

 

In the past 26 years (since the strike) the Braves have made it to the WS 3 times, winning it once. And have played in the NL Championship Series 7 times. I'd much rather have that than the 2 AL Championship losses the Jays put up.

 

I suck at math.

 

My point was with respect to frequency equals WS wins.

 

Braves were in the WS in 91, 92, then 3 times after according to your post. So going back to 91, the Braves had 5 WS appearances and 1 WS win. Blue Jays have 2 appearances and 2 wins. That is all I was saying.

[Carlos Danger]

It's been documented that AA pushed for the Bautista trade and that really was his baby.

 

I heard that also.

 

Estrada was also AA which turned out nice.

 

There was also that loophole he used with that catcher in Colorado that they ended up closing the year after that got us a draft pick and ended up being someone decent.. ICR

[Brownie19]

I heard that also.

 

Estrada was also AA which turned out nice.

 

There was also that loophole he used with that catcher in Colorado that they ended up closing the year after that got us a draft pick and ended up being someone decent.. ICR

 

AA found and exploded the loophole in the CBA to land us several extra draft picks which accelerated the rebuilding of our farm system (before he eventually traded some of it away).

[Krylian]

AA found and exploded the loophole in the CBA to land us several extra draft picks which accelerated the rebuilding of our farm system (before he eventually traded some of it away).

 

Yup. Good times.

[Swervin81]

 

Former Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo. Absolutely heartbreaking.

[G-Snarls]

AA found and exploded the loophole in the CBA to land us several extra draft picks which accelerated the rebuilding of our farm system (before he eventually traded some of it away).

 

I cant believe that at one point you could rack up "sandwich round" picks so easily

[Brownie19]

I cant believe that at one point you could rack up "sandwich round" picks so easily

 

Indeed. I also can't believe the entire league didn't exploit this loophole more. AA turned our farm system around in a heartbeat using this tactic. Sign or trade for players one 1 year deals, let them walk in free agency and add a draft pick between the 1st and 2nd round.

[G-Snarls]

Indeed. I also can't believe the entire league didn't exploit this loophole more. AA turned our farm system around in a heartbeat using this tactic. Sign or trade for players one 1 year deals, let them walk in free agency and add a draft pick between the 1st and 2nd round.

 

I remember thinking the same thing

 

Why isn't eveyine doung this, but especially teams like Oakland Tampa Pittsburg etc

 

I tjink the value of the picks was underestimated

[Spanky99]

 

Former Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo. Absolutely heartbreaking.

 

Yeah, that's pretty terrible... my heart goes out to the Accardo's. RIP Leighton.

[Ray]

AA found and exploded the loophole in the CBA to land us several extra draft picks which accelerated the rebuilding of our farm system (before he eventually traded some of it away).

 

Anthopoulos no doubt is talented at major league roster construction, has a very good understanding of the CBA, and is relentless at getting deals done. I don't think building a robust player development system was ever his strength though. We'll see how this next crop of Braves prospects that were drafted under his watch do. I believe he cleaned house of the scouts & player development system that built the Braves system after he got there. The core of this Braves team is still built on what the previous regime did. Alex has done a tremendous job filling the gaps with those 1 year major league deals no doubt, but his only acquisitions for the 2020 Braves were Ozuna, D'Arnaud, & Adam Duvall.

[Laika]

Anthopoulos no doubt is talented at major league roster construction...

 

I actually think this was one of his weaknesses with Toronto. They had the stars but the back end of the rosters were often a bit lacking. They got pretty lucky with avoiding major SP injuries in 2015 and 2016, I think the only one was Stroman's knee?

 

Anthopoulos is a decent MLB GM. Creative, can be aggressive, good with the media, has turned around a farm system before. He made some big mistakes with Toronto though (Dickey and the Marlins deal) and there are valid criticisms of what he did in terms of a long-term outlook. He's overrated by the Jays fans who thought he was some wunderkind and underrated by the Jays fans who unfairly malign him for running away from some false scorched-earth franchise.

[Spanky99]

Anthopoulos no doubt is talented at major league roster construction, has a very good understanding of the CBA, and is relentless at getting deals done. I don't think building a robust player development system was ever his strength though. We'll see how this next crop of Braves prospects that were drafted under his watch do. I believe he cleaned house of the scouts & player development system that built the Braves system after he got there. The core of this Braves team is still built on what the previous regime did. Alex has done a tremendous job filling the gaps with those 1 year major league deals no doubt, but his only acquisitions for the 2020 Braves were Ozuna, D'Arnaud, & Adam Duvall.

 

And he knocked those out of the park, same with JD and McCaan the year prior, plus the cheap signing of Keuchel. He's done very well. He's also been hand-cuffed 3 years of IFA's because of Coppolella. I think these one year deals with Smyly and Morton work out great as well. Good point on our player development, Atkins upgraded that side for us ten-fold.

 

Edit: I can't remember this...

 

But it was also his remarks on the free agent market that got him in trouble after the season, as the MLBPA objected to a statement he had made to reporters on November 5th: "Every day you get more information. And we’ve had time to connect with 27 of the clubs – obviously the Astros and (Nationals) being in the World Series, they were tied up – but we had a chance to get a sense of what the other clubs are going to look to do in free agency, who might be available in trades." The Players' Association saw this as evidence of collusion aimed at depressing the free agent market and said it had launched an investigation. In February 2020, he was promoted to President of Baseball Operations for the Braves and his contract was extended until 2024.

[TheHurl]

Then why did AA leave?

 

If I had to take a guess I would say that the direction that the budget was going. That he was not the President's hand picked guy. That he did not believe in several of the systems which Shapiro was looking to implement (Braves still do not have an in house mental conditioning team, the Jays have spent Millions on their's since AA's departure) . That he knew that some of his guys were going to get the boot. Did you know that AA took Harvard's Sabermetrics: An Introduction to Baseball Analysis course, upon joining the Dodgers? He wasn't a good fit as a GM under Shapiro. He's also appears to have become a much better GM now.

[Carlos Danger]

Anthopoulos no doubt is talented at major league roster construction, has a very good understanding of the CBA, and is relentless at getting deals done. I don't think building a robust player development system was ever his strength though. We'll see how this next crop of Braves prospects that were drafted under his watch do. I believe he cleaned house of the scouts & player development system that built the Braves system after he got there. The core of this Braves team is still built on what the previous regime did. Alex has done a tremendous job filling the gaps with those 1 year major league deals no doubt, but his only acquisitions for the 2020 Braves were Ozuna, D'Arnaud, & Adam Duvall.

 

Almost every single guy in the 2020 Braves pen was an AA acquisition, a very, very good pen. Did you forget all those signings and trades?