"I first want to start off by saying I'm incredibly excited to be here," Anthopoulos said.
"This was an opportunity -- when it was presented to me, I was elated just to get the opportunity to talk to the Braves."
After spending the past six weeks evaluating how to fill this role, the Braves chose Anthopoulus, who has served as the Dodgers' vice president of player development since ending his stint as the Blue Jays' GM after the 2015 season. He and Atlanta have agreed to terms on a four-year contract that will run through the 2021 season.
"Alex is one of the brightest and most respected young executives in baseball," Braves chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk said. "… In his new role with the Atlanta Braves, Alex will have full control of the baseball side of the operation. Alex will report directly to me. I've made it clear to Alex that he will have the latitude to strengthen the baseball operations as he sees fit."
Anthopoulos took an early-morning flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta and went directly to SunTrust Park for the news conference. The 40-year-old Canadian was expected to finish the travel portion of his hectic day with a flight to Orlando, Fla., to attend the General Managers Meetings, which began Monday.
"I view this as one of the premier jobs in all of sports with the young talent that we have here," Anthopoulos said. "There are some dynamic young players. There's no question that we certainly expect big things moving forward."
With the hire, the Braves hope to begin distancing themselves from the restrictions resulting from MLB's ongoing investigation into infractions that cost former GM John Coppolella his job and created some uncertainty about president of baseball operations John Hart's future. Coppolella was forced to resign on Oct. 2, and McGuirk said Monday that Hart will transition to senior advisor and "will not be involved in the daily operations of the baseball side of the business."
--- Source: MLB.com