Who is Chris Antonetti? Cleveland’s President of Baseball Operations wins MLB Executive of the year
It took some doing to take his young team - on a limited payroll - to an AL Central title and that’s exactly why he’s been recognized for his front office efforts.
The Guardians executive showed a great deal of ingenuity during the season as he guided his team to a division title with a less resources available than most other teams in the league.
Guardians’ Chris Antonetti named MLB’s Executive of the Year
According to reports on Tuesday, Cleveland Guardians President of Baseball Operations, Chris Antonetti was voted Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year. In truth, there may not have been a better pick after Antonetti guided a relatively young team to an AL Central title. What’s more, is that he did it on a $68 million payroll that actually ranked 27th among the 30 teams. To that end, Cleveland went 92-70 while using 17 players who were making their MLB debuts. To be clear, they were the youngest team in the playoff, before finally bowing out in the Division Series to the New York Yankees.
Who is Chris Antonetti?
At 47-years-old, Antonetti has been managing Cleveland’s baseball operations since 2011 when he joined as general manager, until he took on the role of president of baseball operations in October of 2015. Having graduated in 1996 from Georgetown with a master’s degree from Massachusetts in business administration, Antonetti actually started in MLB with the Montreal Expos as an intern in 1997. In November of that year, he would be promoted to assistant director of player development. Then, in 1999 he would make the move to Cleveland, where it would take him just three years before becoming assistant general manager.
A look at MLB’s Executive of the Year award
Voting for the award was in fact completed by all MLB clubs before the start of the playoffs. With regards to how others placed, Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos was second and Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto was third. The award itself is actually a relatively recent addition to MLB’s portfolio of honors. Oakland executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane won the initial award in 2018, followed by Tampa Bay general manager Erik Neander in 2019, Los Angeles Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and of course the San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi just last year.