Indians name Mike Chernoff as new GM

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians have shifted their front office, promoting general manager Chris Antonetti to president of baseball operations and naming Mike Chernoff their new general manager.

"Across our industry, job responsibilities in baseball operations have expanded considerably over the last 10 years," Indians owner Paul Dolan said in a press release. "These moves reflect a structure that a number of other teams have recently adopted."

With president Mark Shapiro leaving Cleveland after 24 seasons to take the same position with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Indians have moved Antonetti, who has been the GM over the past five seasons, into a role ''overseeing the direction of all our baseball decision-making.''

Chernoff has worked as Antonetti's assistant since 2010 and had drawn interest from other teams. Derek Falvey will preplace Chernoff. He has been the club's director of baseball operations.

"Chris will continue to work closely with [Francona], overseeing the direction of all our baseball decision-making," Dolan told reporters, "while Mike and Derek now hold titles that better align with responsibilities they have already largely assumed in our ongoing efforts to develop members of our organization.

"I am encouraged that their leadership presence in our front office provides us with continuity and contributes positively to the culture of growth we have worked hard to build across our organization."

The team said the moves will not impact business operations with owner Dolan assuming Shapiro's responsibilities. Dolan said the club's front-office structure is similar to one adopted recently by several other teams.

The Indians finished 81-80 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

- With files from theScore