The Toronto Blue Jays promoted assistant general manager Tony LaCava to general manager Monday.
Team president Mark Shapiro announced LaCava will take over only on an interim basis, per Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith, and he has yet to reveal any deadline by which time a permanent candidate will be confirmed, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
LaCava is a natural replacement for Alex Anthopoulos, at least for the time being, given his experience in the organization. He has spent more than a decade with the Blue Jays after taking over as director of player development in 2002, and in 2007, he assumed the assistant GM role.
To a certain extent, Toronto also likely wanted to ensure LaCava doesn't leave for greener pastures. He nearly took over as the Baltimore Orioles' general manager in 2011 and was mentioned in connection with a Boston Red Sox front-office role in 2012. He also interviewed with the Los Angeles Angels last September for their GM opening.
Another positive with regard to LaCava's hiring is his previous time with Shapiro.
TSN's Rick Westhead reported on Oct. 29 that Shapiro and Anthopoulos had a difference of opinion regarding Anthopoulos' trades for stars like David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, which came at the cost of top prospects.
Sources also told CBS Sports' Jon Heyman that "[Anthopoulos] didn't feel he'd be able to work comfortably with Shapiro," which played a role in his decision not to sign a new contract with the team
Sportsnet's Jeff Blair noted the time LaCava and Shapiro spent together with the Cleveland Indians and how LaCava helped piece together the biggest move of the Shapiro era in Cleveland:
Blue Jays blogger Tao of Stieb wonders if Shapiro is exercising a bit of self-preservation to deflect some blame should things turn badly:
Still, LaCava is a smart appointment by the Blue Jays, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee he'll succeed in Toronto in the event he becomes the team's permanent GM.
He already has major decisions to make with regard to the futures of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and R.A. Dickey. All three have options for the 2016 season and are on the downward trajectories of their playing careers.
Exercising the options on Bautista and Encarnacion will be easy, but determining how much they're worth beyond next year won't be, especially since the Blue Jays don't have a wealth of talent coming up through the minors.
Re-signing Price this offseason is another goal for LaCava, and he'll have a lot of competition to lock up the left-handed ace. Although he wouldn't deserve a lot of criticism should Price sign elsewhere, his departure would leave the new GM with the difficult task of bolstering the starting rotation.
Anthopoulos got six seasons with which to turn Toronto into a World Series contender. LaCava may not be afforded quite so much time should the Blue Jays struggle to reach the heights of 2015 in the years to come.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments