Blue Jays Senior VP/Baseball Operations & GM Alex Anthopoulos is "leaving" the club after "rejecting an extension to remain" in his current role, according to sources cited by Shi Davidi of SPORTSNET.ca. The "franchise-altering departure comes with the looming arrival of Mark Shapiro, who was hired Aug. 31 and is scheduled to take the reins" as President & CEO from Paul Beeston on Monday. While details are "unclear at the moment, the issues leading to the split aren’t thought to be financial." One possibility going forward is that Shapiro "takes over control of baseball operations with the Blue Jays," or perhaps hires a GM to "execute his vision." The departure of Anthopoulos also "raises questions about the fate of his top front office lieutenants," including longtime Assistant GM Tony LaCava, as well as manager John Gibbons (SPORTSNET.ca, 10/29). TSN.ca's Rick Westhead cites a source as saying that Anthopoulos was offered a "four-year contract extension with a mutual option for a fifth year" worth a total of $8M. The source said that the deal "would have significantly increased Anthopoulos' salary." However, Westhead notes it is unclear whether Shapiro "wanted Anthopoulos to remain with the team." Sources said that during his "only meeting with Anthopoulos and other team executives, Shapiro said he was concerned that the Jays had given away so many blue-chip prospects this summer" in trades for P David Price and SS Troy Tulowitzki, among others (TSN.ca, 10/29). When Rogers was "negotiating with Shapiro to leave a similar role in Cleveland, ownership apparently promised him final say on player personnel matters" (THESTAR.com, 10/29).
SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM: CBC Sports' Scott Regehr said Anthopoulos' departure is "shocking news for many." Regehr: "There had been murmurings that Anthopoulos had agreed to a contract a few weeks ago but didn't want to announce it because there was so much focus on what was going on on the field (with) their charmed playoff run" ("Metro Morning," CBC Radio, 10/29).
