The Toronto Blue Jays have named Indians executive Ross Atkins as their executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager.
Atkins most recently served as the Indians' vice president of player personnel. He joins the front office along with Mark Shapiro, his good friend and a fellow longtime Indians front-office executive who was named president and CEO of the Blue Jays in early July. That led then-GM Alex Anthopoulos, considered the architect of the Blue Jays' first playoff team since 1993, to reject a five-year contract extension to remain on the same day he was named executive of the year. A Canadian, his departure did not go over well with the Toronto's fan base.
Tony LaCava, an assistant to Anthopoulos since 2007, was promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations and assistant GM. He served as interim general manager and was a candidate for the job. Before joining the Blue Jays, LaCava worked with Shapiro in Cleveland in 2002.
Atkins pitched in the Cleveland organization before joining its front office. He worked with the team's pitching prospects before becoming the assistant farm director in 2001. He worked as the club's director of Latin American operations for three years and ran the farm system from 2007 to 2014.
Atkins interviewed in the past for GM openings in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Shapiro, a former general manager with Cleveland, became Toronto's new president in November. He replaced Paul Beeston, who retired after years of running the business side of the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays will introduce Atkins at a press conference in Toronto on Friday.
The Blue Jays have made several offseason moves, including agreeing to a $36 million, three-year contract with lefty J.A. Happ; acquiring 32-year-old righty Jesse Chavez in exchange for Liam Hendriks; and avoiding arbitration by agreeing to a $3.9 million, one-year contract with first baseman Justin Smoak. They also have exercised 2016 options on sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
Coveted free agent David Price will depart after reaching an agreement on a seven-year, $217 million deal with the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.