1.) Atlanta Braves
Finally, we come to the top of the National League East with the Atlanta Braves front office and frankly, this isn't particularly close. It is pretty puzzling that Alex Anthopoulos hasn't won MLB Executive of the Year yet given all of the success the team has had combined with his body of work while heading the Braves' front office.
After being pretty reluctant to trade from the team's minor league depth his first few seasons as general manager, Anthopoulos finally showed some of the aggressiveness we saw out of him during his time in Toronto in the deals for Matt Olson and Sean Murphy. On a related note, the Athletics should probably stop taking AA's phone calls because both of those deals have turned out much better for the Braves than Oakland. His moves at the 2021 trade deadline including Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler are widely regarded as some of the most impactful moves we have seen in years and he gave up very little in any of those deals.
However, it is more than just a couple flashy trades here. The Braves have continued to add young talent from the minor leagues despite the limitations they have had on the international market and low draft picks. They have been generally good at calling up the right guys at the right points in their development and, when necessary, have proven to be very agile in their decision-making when the situation calls for it.
If there is a quibble, and it is a fair one, it is that Anthopoulos has let some popular and very good players leave in Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson. There are some fans that will never forgive him for those decisions, but at the very least there was always a good plan in place when those choices were made. Matt Olson isn't Freddie Freeman, but he is pretty close. Many thought that shortstop was going to be a liability when Dansby left for the Cubs, but Orlando Arcia has been a delightful surprise. It is also worth nothing that while some notable players have left, Anthopoulos has a very strong track record of getting extensions done with players like Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris, Matt Olson, Spencer Strider, Sean Murphy, and Austin Riley.
The end result has been a Braves organization that is a model for sustainable success in the modern game of baseball. Not every move has worked out amazingly, but the front office always seems to find a way to make things work and they make the team better each and every year. You can't ask for much more than that.