Alex Anthopoulos named Baseball America’s MLB Executive of the Year
Atlanta Braves General Manager, Alex Anthopoulos, was named Baseball America’s MLB Executive of the Year, the publication announced on Friday.
🏆 Baseball America's MLB Executive of the Year
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) December 2, 2022
The @Braves hired Alex Anthopoulos as general manager in November 2017.
The club has done nothing but win ever since. https://t.co/thhBouKsYR pic.twitter.com/XqdnwQe6hV
Alex Anthopoulos missed out on the Executive of the Year given out by MLB earlier this offseason, won by Chris Antonetti of the Cleveland Guardians, but this is an impressive achievement nonetheless.
The Braves GM becomes the 20th executive to win Baseball America‘s Executive of the Year award, established in 1998. He is the third-straight winner who has been connected with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, as Dodgers President, Andrew Friedman took home the award in 2020, and Giants President, Farhan Zaidi, who served as the Dodgers GM from 2014-2018, won it in 2021.
Since taking over as GM in November of 2018, AA has helped lead the club to five straight division titles and a World Series championship. This year, Anthopoulos built a team that won 101 games.
The Braves GM made several bold moves in 2022. Immediately after the lockout, he traded for Matt Olson and immediately extended the 1B to an eight-year deal. This was one of many extensions handed out by the Braves front office this past season. In addition to the Olson deal, Anthopoulos also locked up Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, and Spencer Strider to long-term deals during the season. These are in addition to the long-term extensions he made with Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr. back in 2019.
Anthopoulos was also aggressive with the promotion of prospects. Rookie of the Year runner-up, Spencer Strider, was on the Opening Day Roster, while eventual Rookie of the Year, Michael Harris II, was promoted in late May, despite the 21-year-old only playing 43 games in AA. Anthopoulos also added Vaughn Grissom to the major league roster from AA after injuries to Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia, and the 2B added 0.7 fWAR in just 41 games. Cumulatively, the Braves got over 12 WAR of production out of the rookies.
Tomahawk Take congratulates Anthopoulos for winning this well-deserved award!
Next. The Braves appear to be looking at the catcher trade market. dark