We are more than a month into the Braves’ search for a new GM, but it does sound like things are progressing towards a couple of finalists.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is the frontrunner for the job if Dayton Moore doesn’t come over from Kansas City. Sherman also says former Cubs GM Jim Hendry is also in the running, though he doesn’t appear to be the top choice.
The situation was still viewed as fluid with nothing finalized and, thus, it remained possible that Jim Hendry, an assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman, or even someone else still could land the job. But, as of the middle of last week, the sentiment in the Braves organization was that if it could not lure Royals GM Dayton Moore, Anthopoulos was the preferred Plan B.
Sherman also adds that Anthopoulos is the preferred choice of John Hart, though John Schuerholz prefers Hendry.
Anthopoulos is quite similar to Coppolella in the sense that he isn’t shy of the big deal. One of his first deals as Toronto’s GM was trading Roy Halladay to Philadelphia — Rest in Peace — but he also brought the likes of Josh Donaldson, Jose Reyes and Troy Tulowitzki to town. Anthopoulos left town under some uncertain circumstances in 2015 and has worked in the Dodgers organization ever since.
Jim Henry turned the Cubs into a dumpster fire after a couple of playoff appearances in the early 2000s. Hiring him would be a disaster.