Blue Jays name Tony LaCava interim general manager

New Blue Jays GM Tony LaCava talks with Tim and Sid about the emotion of losing longtime colleague Alex Anthopoulos, his off-season plans for the Jays roster and his relationship with new President Mark Shapiro.

TORONTO — Tony LaCava will replace Alex Anthopoulos as the Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager, at least on an interim basis.

LaCava, 54, had previously served as the Blue Jays’ vice president of baseball operations and assistant GM. Team president Mark Shapiro announced the decision Monday at Rogers Centre.

LaCava joined the Blue Jays in October of 2002 as an assistant to GM J.P. Ricciardi after spending the 2002 season with the Cleveland Indians as a national crosschecker. At the time Shapiro was Cleveland’s GM.

The Blue Jays named LaCava assistant GM in 2007.

Anthopoulos left the Blue Jays by choice last Thursday, declining a contract offer from the team because the fit did not feel right. He was named the Sporting News Executive of the Year the same day. Among the first orders of business for LaCava will be deciding whether to exercise R.A. Dickey’s 2016 option and whether to make Marco Estrada a qualifying offer.

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