For as much as the Los Angeles Dodgers have worked to put a competitive and well-rounded team together, they’ve seemingly aimed to do the same in the front office.
Beginning with the Guggenheim group’s purchase of the Dodgers, team president and CEO Stan Kasten’s presence signaled the first step to improvement on the executive level.
The hire of Andrew Friedman as president of baseball operations in October 2014 was a major coup for the organization and set the wheels in motion for expanding the front office.
Now with senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes, general manager Farhan Zaidi, director of player development Gabe Kapler and a slew of others in the fold, the Dodgers’ think tank is unrivaled.
The already-impressive group is now expected to add former Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, according to Vince Cauchon of Radio X in Quebec:
Canada's 2015 team of the year GM Alex Anthopoulos has been hired by the @Dodgers. He'll work alongside GM Farhan Zaidi, another Canadian.
— Vince Cauchon (@VinceCauchon) January 3, 2016
Buoyed by the additions of Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin, David Price and Troy Tulowitzki among others, Toronto finished with the second-best record in the American League and reached the postseason for the first time in 22 years.
After defeating the Texas Rangers in five games of the AL Division Series, the Blue Jays were eliminated from the AL Championship Series in six games by the eventual World-Series champion Kansas City Royals.
What role Anthopoulos will fill with the Dodgers has not yet been finalized. He nonetheless will become the fifth former general manager working in the club’s front office; that number is six when including current GM Zaidi.
Aside from Zaidi, the group of those with previous general manager experience includes Byrnes, senior advisor Ned Colletti, Friedman and special advisor Gerry Hunsicker.
Anthopoulos turned down an extension and surprisingly and abruptly left his post as Blue Jays general manager one week after the AL East champions were eliminated from the postseason.
It’s believed Anthopoulos was concerned by the hire of Mark Shapiro, who replaced the retiring Paul Beeston as Toronto’s president. Anthopoulos was the Blue Jays general manager for the past six seasons.
He was named the 2015 Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year, which is voted on by members of Major League front offices.
