Prospect-rich Atlanta gig closure for Anthopoulos

Alex Anthopoulos was happy in L.A., but then, he was happy in Toronto, too. Los Angeles was great: good school for the kids, parks and nature, family bike rides in Manhattan Beach. And he got to work like crazy for a bejewelled Dodgers organization full of people he liked, full of resources and possibility, that got all the way to Game 7 of the World Series before they fell apart.

And then Sunday the Atlanta Braves called, and Anthopoulos was in charge of their baseball operations by the end of the day. The Montreal native and former Blue Jays GM didn’t want just any job — he wanted an organization that had potential, that had good ownership, that was closer to his and wife Cristina’s families in Montreal and Toronto, respectively.

Oh, and the deepest prospect pool in baseball. He said yes.

“The number one thing is who you’re working with and who you’re working for,” said Anthopoulos in an interview Monday night after being introduced in Atlanta, before flying to the GM meetings in Orlando. “When we started in Toronto the attendance was what it was, 1.5 million, and the prospect pool was 28th, and it didn’t stop it from being a great job.”

This will be a great job. The Braves are coming off three straight 90-loss seasons, but they imploded because then-GM John Coppolella simply trashed the rules when it came to international scouting, tampering and signing bonuses.

So if they couldn’t get former Braves executive Dayton Moore, now in Kansas City, of course they went with Anthopoulos. Anthopoulos is rigorous when it comes to lines of command, to following rules, to creating an atmosphere that permeates an organization. Before he left the Jays, the team offered control of baseball operations, superseding current team president Mark Shapiro. Anthopoulos said no: that’s not how this should work.

Former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos gets a team with barrels of pitching prospects, among others. Which means there is irony in baseball, as in life

When Anthopoulos left, longtime employees held a lunch for him and said their goodbyes; when it came time for Anthopoulos to speak, he simply began to cry. It wasn’t an easy call, but he stuck with his principles. He will now, too. Atlanta needs that.

Now he gets a team with barrels of pitching prospects, among others. Which means there is irony in baseball, as in life. Shapiro was hired with the idea of breaking up Toronto’s veteran core and building something new, and then the revenues and attendance soared, and the plan evolved. Anthopoulos, meanwhile, will take his new job swimming in prospects.

But it’s a sort of closure for him, because he’s in the big chair again.

“Yeah, I think there’s more pressure, more expectations,” said Anthopoulos. “In L.A., I felt like it was divided among the group. It was a great setup . . . but I already know, I remember what the feeling’s like when you do have that final say, when the buck does stop with you. It’s an enormous responsibility. That’s what it feels like. And you want to make the right decisions. There’s a ton of people counting on you — in the organization, outside the organization, across the board.”

Look, I know the comparison gets tired. I’ve written about how Toronto should let Anthopoulos go. I believe that. Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins deserve a chance to prove themselves in this market, and however tin-eared and corporate and strange the organization can seem, if they win that won’t matter so much. But the comparison won’t go away any time soon. The pressure’s back on everyone who was involved in the transition now, in their separate worlds.

Anthopoulos, for his part, has enormous amounts of work to do, but one other thing first. Roy Halladay’s memorial is Tuesday at the Phillies’ stadium in Clearwater, and Anthopoulos means to get there.

“It would mean a lot to me,” said Anthopoulos, who was around Halladay for six seasons before trading him after becoming GM. “What probably resonated with me the most was this was a genuine, humble, superstar baseball player who was universally revered, and Toronto and Canada was that important to him. Going into the Canadian hall of fame meant something to him, was important to him. I remember when we went to the playoffs in 2015, he said, ‘I’m so jealous,’ but he said it with such pride. He was one of us. And as Canadians, we embrace that.”

He remembered Halladay coming back to Toronto to help off-season recruiting pitches, taking belowmarket contracts, pitching on short rest to try to get in the playoffs, coming from the bullpen unasked. He remembered when travelling secretary Mike Shaw’s father died, and the funeral was the day after a night game, and Halladay was the only one who showed up.

“He didn’t need to come, he wasn’t expected to come,” said Anthopoulos. “But he did.”

Anthopoulos also remembered one other thing. He had never been in Doc’s Box, the luxury box Halladay provided to sick children, but one day he was giving a tour. It was decorated with all sorts of things Halladay liked, and believed.

“There was a mural on the wall, showing all the things Roy liked,” said Anthopoulos. “And one of them was words to live by. And it said, ‘Always do more than you have to.’ ”

He still uses that when he gives people advice about the industry, about sports, about life. Alex Anthopoulos is starting again, and remembering what got him here in the first place.