Dodgers Add Anthopoulos To Loaded Front Office

Alex Anthopoulos, who stunned the Blue Jays and baseball by walking away from Toronto after its first postseason appearance in 22 years, has been hired by the Dodgers as vice president of baseball operations.

Anthopoulos, 38, will assist in all aspects of baseball operations, the Dodgers said in a news release.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Alex on board,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in a news release. “Farhan (Zaidi), Josh (Byrnes) and myself all have longstanding relationships with him and believe his experience and perspective will be tremendous assets to our organization.”

Anthopoulos in October left the Blue Jays, rejecting a five-year extension to stay, according to Blue Jays’ chairman Edward Rogers. The decision came shortly after former Indians general manager Mark Shapiro assumed his role as president and CEO of the Jays. Anthopoulos was expected to work closely with Shapiro before his surprise decision.

Anthopoulos denied there was any friction with Shapiro, saying he just didn’t feel it was a “fit” to remain in Toronto.

In Los Angeles, Anthopoulos joins a front office that includes former GMs in Friedman (Rays), Byrnes (Diamondbacks, Padres), Ned Colletti (Dodgers) and special advisor Gerry Hunsicker (Astros).

Anthopoulos had been GM of the Jays since the end of the 2009 season, when he replaced J.P. Ricciardi. Toronto went 489-483 in that time, finishing 93-69 this season to win the AL East for the first time in 22 years and winning the AL Division Series against the Rangers before falling to Kansas City in the League Championship Series.

Anthopoulos engineered many big trades in his time, most notably deals for R.A. Dickey that sent Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard to the Mets; the 12-player swap that brought Jose Reyes to Toronto from Miami; the deal for Josh Donaldson from Oakland prior to the 2015 season that sent Franklin Barreto and others to the A’s, and the deadline deals this summer that sent away a dozen prospects to bring in Tulowitzki, Price, LaTroy Hawkins, Ben Revere and Mark Lowe.

During Anthopoulos’ stay as GM, players the Jays drafted or signed include Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Roberto Osuna, Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey, as well as Syndergaard, Justin Nicolino, Adeiny Hechavarria, Anthony DeSclafani, Daniel Norris, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Boyd, Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin, all of whom were traded.