Braves hire Alex Anthopoulos as GM

The Atlanta Braves have found their next general manager, and it's a former Executive of the Year.

Atlanta hired former Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos - who most recently served as vice president of baseball operations with the Los Angeles Dodgers - to replace the departed John Coppolella.

John Hart, the Braves' president of baseball operations who's been serving as interim GM since Coppolella's resignation in October, is reportedly expected to stay in the president's role for the time being, though Anthopoulos will have final say on all baseball decisions.

The 40-year-old Anthopoulos broke into baseball with his hometown Montreal Expos 17 years ago and then spent over a decade with Toronto, serving as GM from 2009-15. Under his watch, the Blue Jays broke their 22-year playoff drought in 2015, and the team he constructed around stars Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Josh Donaldson reached the ALCS in consecutive seasons.

Anthopoulos chose to leave the Blue Jays shortly after their playoff run in 2015 despite being named Executive of the Year, and has spent the last two years with the Dodgers.

Atlanta's GM position became vacant when Coppolella resigned in early October amid allegations of breaking international signing rules. An MLB investigation has since been ongoing, and is not expected to be resolved during the GM meetings.

The Braves' initial top target for the position was Dayton Moore, a former longtime member of the Atlanta front office who's served as GM of the Kansas City Royals since 2006. Royals owner David Glass reportedly denied Atlanta permission to speak with Moore last month, and the Braves reportedly "moved away" from him as a candidate on Sunday, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.co.