Indians Ross Atkins reportedly finalist for Toronto GM job

Cleveland Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins is a finalist for the Toronto Blue Jays general manager position according to CBSSports Jon Heyman. The other finalist is current Blue Jays interim general manager Tony LaCava.

If Atkins does obtain the position with Toronto, then it would be the first time in his professional career he would work outside the Indians organization. Atkins was drafted as a pitcher out of Wake Forest in the 38th round of the 1995 MLB Amateur Draft and spent five seasons in the Indians minor league system. He reached the Double A level in Akron before transitioning into a front office job in 1999. Atkins worked his way up through the organizational ranks to his current position.

Of course, Atkins would retain some semblance of stability even in Toronto as he has also worked for Mark Shapiro his entire career, who is now the president of baseball operations for the Blue Jays.

Earlier this offseason, the Indians promoted Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff with many suspecting it was done in part to protect them from being similarly poached by Shapiro.

Atkins though has been a relatively hot name on the general manager front this offseason as he also was a contender for the Los Angeles Angels general manager position after being interviewed. Atkins received respect throughout the MLB community from the large turnaround in the Indians minor league farm system after he took over as director of player development in 2006. IBI’s Tony Lastoria gave more insight into the systematic approach Atkins took with the Indians player development in an interview during the 2014 Spring Training.

If Shapiro were to hire Atkins, then the Indians would likely turn back to their player development staff to replace him. Carter Hawkins has admirably filled Atkins previous position of director of player development, which has included bolstering the Indians connections with the research-based development community. And, the player development side of the Indians would still be in the capable hands of Eric Binder, who has worked beside Hawkins since being hired from the Texas Baseball Ranch.

The Indians might as well hire from within to back-fill positions as the rest of MLB sure seem to constantly be after their front office members.