Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports that former Padres and Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes -- currently with the Dodgers -- could be the next GM of the Blue Jays.
Interesting enough, but saying that Byrnes and other men the Jays have spoken to are “candidates to take over for Alex Anthopoulos” just sort of sits wrong. Mark Shapiro really took over for Anthopoulos, right? If we’re being honest? He has the title of president, not GM, but from a fan’s perspective, we care about who has final say on baseball operations decisions. Who pulls the trigger on deals and authors the team’s baseball strategy. We don’t really care who does the groundwork and day-to-day that much, and that, thanks to title inflation in baseball operations departments, is what the GM job is turning into.
I liken it to saying that current National Wrestling Alliance champion Jax Dane (yes, I had to look that up) holds the same belt once held by Ric Flair in the 1980s. Sure, it may be technically accurate, but it’s not exactly a meaningful thing to say given the changes to the NWA. Front office titles are the same way.