Shapiro, a former general manager with Cleveland, became Toronto’s new president in November. Atkins has been with the Indians for the past 15 years and also served as the club’s director of player development, director of Latin American operations, and assistant director of player development.
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Cleveland Indians vice-president of player personnel Ross Atkins will be the Toronto Blue Jays’ new general manager.
Reports had previously surfaced that Atkins was absent from the Indians’ organizational meetings this offseason leading to reports that he would be heading to Toronto. Earlier this off-season, he signed a contract extension – believed to be at least two years – to stay in Toronto regardless of his role going forward. Well, it looks like Shapiro chose to hire a familiar face in Atkins instead of removing the interim tag from LaCava. He has interviewed before for positions with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Atkins had been a member of the Cleveland Indians front office since 2001 and most recently was the team’s player personnel director. Their postseason ended with a loss to Kansas City in the AL Championship Series. At the time, Anthopoulos said that he and the team were no longer a good fit. The Blue Jays responded with a strong second half to end their long post-season drought.
However, the pitching staff has a few holes.
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The Blue Jays will introduce Atkins at a press conference in Toronto on Friday. Other players who were acquired in trades, such as Carlos Carrasco, Yan Gomes, Corey Kluber and Carlos Santana, worked their way through the minor league system before reaching Progressive Field.
