Quick rise to top for Jays' Anthopoulos

With the drop of a pink slip, Alex Anthopoulos has gone from virtual obscurity to one of the youngest general managers in Major League Baseball.

The 32-year-old has taken over the reins as GM of the Toronto Blue Jays from J.P. Ricciardi. The club announced Saturday that CEO Paul Beeston fired Ricciardi after eight mediocre seasons with the franchise.

"We've made a tough decision today," Beeston said at a news conference. "Alex comes with six years working with the Blue Jays and working with J.P. He knows the organization, he knows the players, he knows the farm system, he knows the scouts, and we're very, very pleased he's accepted the role."

Toronto would go on to lose the first game of the Anthopoulos tenure, however long it may lost, dropping a 6-3 result to Baltimore.

Anthopoulos is from Montreal and becomes just the second Canadian general manager in Blue Jays history — Toronto native Gord Ash served as GM from 1995-2001. He's the fifth Canadian overall to be a GM. Doug Melvin, Murray Cook and George Selkirk were the others.

"I won't have a lot for you today in terms of specifics on direction, things like that, it's been a bit of a whirlwind for me," he told The Canadian Press on Saturday. "The arrow is pointing up with this organization, it may not seem that way right now, but there's a lot to look forward to."

Anthopoulos has always been passionate about the game of baseball. He began his career as a volunteer with the Montreal Expos organization in the 2000 season.

He turned down a "real job" with Fidelity Investments in Toronto to accept the position in Montreal, Anthopoulos told the website battersbox.ca.

Anthopoulos's first duties included dealing with players' fan mail.

"I spent my weekends co-ordinating the players' fan mail and spent my evenings attending Expos games, sitting in the scout seats and trying to learn more about my passion — scouting and evaluating players," Anthopoulos recalled.

He then toiled as an intern in media relations and scouting roles as a 23-year-old with the Expos. He paid his own way through MLB's Scout School in 2001, and knowing that the Expos would soon be leaving Montreal, he began looking for jobs around the league.

During his days as a student in Scout School, Anthopoulos forged an important relationship with Jon Lalonde, a scouting co-ordinator with the Blue Jays. In 2003, Lalonde helped Anthopoulos land his first job as a scout with Toronto.

Anthopoulos worked closely with Ricciardi over the past few seasons, collaborating on many trades and signings. He takes over the role as interim GM and could be one of the leading candidates to fill the job permanently.