LAS VEGAS (AP) — Cleveland Guardians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti was voted Major League Baseball’s Executive of the Year on Tuesday after his young team won the AL Central with a $68 million payroll that was 27th among the 30 teams.
Cleveland went 92-70 while using 17 players who made their major league debuts. The youngest team in the postseason, the Guardians lost a five-game Division Series to the New York Yankees.
Antonetti, 47, has been in charge of Cleveland’s baseball operations as general manager from 2011-15 and president of baseball operations since October 2015.
A 1996 graduate of Georgetown with a master’s degree from Massachusetts in business administration, Antonetti started in MLB as a Montreal Expos intern in 1997 and became assistant director of player development that November. He joined Cleveland in 1999 and became assistant general manager three years later.
In voting conducted by major league clubs before the postseason, Atlanta Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos was second and Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto was third.
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 in 2020 and San Francisco Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi last year.
The award was announced on the first full day of the annual general managers meetings.
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