As the Atlanta Braves try to win their fifth straight division title and defend their World Series Championship, Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has not only put the defending champs in position to defend their title this year, but Anthopoulos has also put the Braves in position to be legitimate title contenders for years to come.
Since Anthopolous has joined the club in 2017 he has helped the club win four straight National League East titles, a National League Pennant, a World Series Championship, and also signed Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and most recently Michael Harris II to long-term contract extensions.
Now, Anthopoulos hasn’t just locked up his own players, he also has made trades that have all pretty much paid major dividends. Everyone remembers his trade deadline moves last year to bring in Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario, and Jorge Soler, and all of those players playing an integral part to the Braves' amazing World Series run. Anthopolous also brought in Will Smith, another vital part of the World Series run last season.
With all the key signings and trades Anthopoulos has made that have all created success for the Braves, is it fair to discuss if the Braves' general manager is the best GM in Atlanta sports history? Jon Chuckery not only thinks it’s a fair discussion to have, but he also believes that Anthopoulos is in fact the best general manager in Atlanta sports history, and explained why Thursday night on The Jon Chuckery Show.
First, Chuckery explains that Anthopoulos locking up the Braves core is an accomplishment that shouldn’t be overlooked.
“The idea of locking up your young core while you have the opportunity and being able to keep the main part of your roster together for years to come I mean how many teams really do that in any sport," Chuckery said. "Right?”
Next, Jon talks about what he thinks is the most impressive part of what Anthopoulos has done.
“He has completely crushed the narrative that Liberty Media won’t spend money,” Chuckery said. “Alex Anthopoulos has changed the culture about what Liberty Media will or will not do when it comes to the Braves.”
Jon is right. In Anthopoulos’ first couple of seasons with the Braves the perception of Liberty Media was always that they were never willing to spend the necessary money on the Braves, and that they always left Anthopoulos with his hands tied. But now with the help of some master moves and development by Anthopoulos and the Braves' coaching staff, the success of The Battery, and obviously the Braves winning the World Series, it now seems like Liberty Media is willing to give Anthopoulos whatever he needs to be successful, and Anthopoulos had to earn that.
Now, with respect to Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz who helped build, develop, and maintain that Braves core that won 14 straight division titles, they were great general managers, but they always had the support and the necessary resources of former Braves owner Ted Turner. Anthopoulos has never had that except maybe up until now.
“That was the great thing about having Ted right," Chuckery asked. "When you needed something you went and got it.”
Jon also mentions former Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff in the discussion.
“He drafted the most important player in the history of the Falcons organization," Chuckery said. "He drafted the guy who might be the best player in the history of the Falcons organization in Julio Jones, he also made the best free agent signing in the history of the Falcons in Michael Turner.”
However, while Dimitroff got close to delivering the Falcons and the city of Atlanta a Super Bowl, he didn’t accomplish like Anthopoulos has by helping the Braves winning a World Series. Also, as his tenure went on you could argue Dimitroff's drafting got worse.
Lastly, Jon quickly mentions current Atlanta Hawks President of Basketball Operations, Travis Schlenk, who was recently promoted from General Manager just a few months ago.
Jon says Schlenk has “done some good things”, but again even though he has drafted Trae Young, got the Hawks to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2015, and helped bring in Dejounte Murray this offseason, he has not brought home the championship that Anthopoulos has.
It all boils down to this, what general manager in Atlanta sports history has had more of a direct impact on his team winning a championship than Anthopoulos had last year with the Atlanta Braves? Your answer to that question is the reason why Anthopoulos is the best general manager in Atlanta sports history.