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Former Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has reportedly been hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to tweets by Vince Cauchon of CHOI-FM in Quebec City from Sunday that somehow wasn't noticed by English Canadians until Tuesday morning.
Alex Anthopoulos s'est trouvé du boulot chez les @Dodgers aux côtés l'actuel DG Farhan Zaidi, un autre Canadien. Ce sera annoncé sous peu.
— Vince Cauchon (@VinceCauchon) January 3, 2016
Canada's 2015 team of the year GM Alex Anthopoulos has been hired by the @Dodgers. He'll work alongside GM Farhan Zaidi, another Canadian.
— Vince Cauchon (@VinceCauchon) January 3, 2016
Andrew Stoeten, of the eponymous website, reported that he had also heard of this rumoured hiring.
Heard this rumour for a while now. This make it official? https://t.co/eT5odChKWY
— Andrew Stoeten (@AndrewStoeten) January 5, 2016
Anthopoulos, 38, was the Blue Jays' general manager from 2009 through 2015, when he chose not to sign an extension with Toronto after leading the club to its first division title and postseason appearance since 1993. It had been reported that the working arrangement with incoming president Mark Shapiro was simply not the right "fit" for Anthopoulos.
According to Cauchon, Anthopoulos will be working "alongside" Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi, in an unspecified role. In numerous interviews, Anthopoulos had mentioned his love for scouting and personally evaluating players. His first job with the Blue Jays was as scouting director.
The Dodgers front office is similar in structure as the Blue Jays' as their general manager reports to the President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman; however that position is separate from the role of President and CEO, a role held by Stan Kasten.
We had an idea that a move like this would be coming, as Anthopoulos told The Canadian Press that, while the break he has had since leaving the Blue Jays has been good, he was ready to return to baseball "come January."
"I’m getting there and come next month, come January, I’ll work again," Anthopoulos said. "Most likely for a team but it’s not 100 per cent. There were some media opportunities that came up that were interesting just from a quality of life standpoint. [...] But then the more I thought about it, it’s most likely I’ll stay in baseball. Just because I’ve done it so long and I’m still young in my baseball career. I don’t think I’m prepared to walk away."
In other Dodgers news, two other former Blue Jays, Turner Ward and Chris Woodward, has been hired as major league coaches, with Ward being tapped as their batting coach and Woodward being named as their third base coach.
UPDATE (5:19 pm)
ESPN's sources have echoed the report from Cauchon.