{"id":23795,"date":"2019-08-10T13:45:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-10T17:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=23795"},"modified":"2019-08-10T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T18:48:00","slug":"alex-anthopoulos-deserves-credit-for-atlanta-braves-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/08\/10\/alex-anthopoulos-deserves-credit-for-atlanta-braves-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Anthopoulos Deserves Credit for Atlanta Braves Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 13th, 2017, the Atlanta Braves<\/a> announced that Alex Anthopoulos <\/strong>would become the teams next General Manager and executive vice president. This move came shortly after former Braves GM John Coppolella resigned after committing several infractions regarding the signings of international players. Coppolella was banned from Major League Baseball for life.<\/p>\n

Despite finishing the 2017 season in 3rd place with a 72-90 record, Anthopoulos immediately inherited one of the best farm systems in MLB after coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>. At the time, the Braves farm system was ranked first in the majors and had seven top 100 prospects on the big-league club. The first season under Anthopoulos proved to be a success as the Braves shocked the world and won the 2018 NL East division title with a 90-72 record. Anthopoulos has continued to upgrade the Braves in 2019 and now has them in prime position to repeat as NL East champs. It’s time to give the Braves GM the credit he deserves.<\/p>\n

Alex Anthopoulos Deserves Credit for Atlanta Braves Success<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Acu\u00f1a Jr. and Albies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Arguably the most impressive thing Anthopoulos has accomplished in his short tenure has been locking up his young stars. Both Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.<\/a> and Ozzie Albies<\/a> were locked up to team-friendly long-term deals. Anthopoulos signed<\/a> Acu\u00f1a to an 8-year $100 million contract. He signed<\/a> Albies to a seven-year deal worth $35 million.<\/p>\n

This move seems to be paying off already for the Braves as Acu\u00f1a is starting to look like the game’s next superstar and Albies continues his hot-hitting and stellar defense.<\/p>\n

\n

EN FUEGO ??<\/p>\n

Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. just deposited his second home run tonight and his fifth of the road trip. #Braves<\/a> | #ChopOn<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qfNUgAatru<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) August 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n