Alex Anthopoulos couldn’t celebrate the Braves’ World Series triumph with the rest of the organization last night, as the president of baseball operations had to watch from home after testing positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. The diagnosis left Anthopoulos “surprised,” as he told Scott Miller of The New York Times, but fortunately, “I’m fully vaxxed, I don’t have any symptoms, I feel great….My family is fine.” To avoid any distractions for the team, Anthopoulos told only manager Brian Snitker and team chairman Terry McGuirk about his diagnosis.
As unusual as the situation was, Anthopoulos got to celebrate with his wife and children, adding to the special moment. The Braves have reached the postseason in each of Anthopoulos’ four seasons at the helm of the front office, and the 44-year-old has now captured his first championship after 10 total years as a general manager (counting his six years with the Blue Jays from 2010-15).
More from the NL East….
- Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman declined a request from the Mets to interview about their front office vacancy last week, SNY’s Andy Martino reports (Twitter link). Afterman has worked with the Yankees in the AGM role since 2001, and she received an additional promotion to senior VP in 2012.
- The Nationals officially announced their 2022 coaching staff, including three previously-reported new hires (first base coach Eric Young Jr., third base coach Gary DiSarcina, hitting coach Darnell Coles) and one more newcomer in bullpen coach Ricky Bones. Former bullpen coach Henry Blanco is staying on the Nats’ staff in the new role of catching/strategy coach. This is Bones’ second time working with Washington’s organization, as he previously served as a pitching coach for the Class-A advanced team back in 2005. Bones has been the Mets’ bullpen coach from 2012-21, with a brief stint as a minor league pitching coach in 2019.
