Tony LaCava

Tony LaCava
Born (1961-05-21) May 21, 1961
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Occupation Former interim general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays
Known for Baseball executive
Predecessor Alex Anthopoulos
Successor Ross Atkins

Anthony F. LaCava (born May 21, 1961) is an American professional baseball executive. In 2015, he served as the interim general manager and vice president of baseball operations for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB), succeeding Alex Anthopoulos.[1] LaCava was later replaced by Ross Atkins.

Playing career

LaCava attended Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and played for the school's baseball team. As a senior in 1979, Central Catholic won the state championship.[2] He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an undrafted free agent in 1983. He hit .302/.386/.409 in 21 games for the 1983 GCL Pirates in a utility role and was 0-for-11 with two walks for the Greenwood Pirates. In 1984, LaCava batted .153/.268/.161 in 46 games for the Macon Pirates to end his playing career.[3]

Executive career

In 1989, LaCava was hired by the California Angels as a scout, where he remained for 10 years.[4] In 2000, he joined the Atlanta Braves as their national scouting supervisor.[4] Later that year LaCava joined the Montreal Expos as director of player development. While working with the Expos, LaCava became acquainted with advanced metrics through contact with Baseball Prospectus writers. As a result, he used advanced stats like xFIP and BABIP in his analysis of a player.[5] He joined the Cleveland Indians in 2002 as a national crosschecker.[6]

In the fall of 2002, the Toronto Blue Jays named him as an assistant to the general manager, then J. P. Ricciardi. He was moved up to assistant GM in October 2007. Alex Anthopoulos also made LaCava the director of player development in 2009.[7] LaCava was considered a candidate to become GM for the Baltimore Orioles,[8] but turned down their offer in order to stay with the Blue Jays.[9]

After the 2015 season, Anthopoulous opted not to remain with the Blue Jays. On November 2, 2015, LaCava was named the Blue Jays' vice president of baseball operations and interim general manager by new team president Mark Shapiro.[6][10] Shapiro hired Ross Atkins as the permanent general manager on December 3, 2015,[11] and LaCava was promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Toronto Blue Jays Front Office Directory". MLB.com. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Central Catholic has many ties to its 1979 baseball team". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tony LaCava Register Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Kennedy, Brendan (November 2, 2015). "Blue Jays' Tony LaCava 'a rock' in the organization". thestar.com. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ "GM Candidate: Tony LaCava". MLB Trade Rumors.
  6. 1 2 Nicholson-Smith, Ben (November 2, 2015). "Blue Jays to name Tony LaCava vice president of baseball operations and interim general manager". Sportsnet. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ Griffin, Richard (October 10, 2009). "Blue Jays struck by winds of change". Toronto: thestar.com. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Orioles Insider: Orioles close on LaCava? - Baltimore Orioles: Schedule, news, analysis and opinion on baseball at Camden Yards - baltimoresun.com". Weblogs.baltimoresun.com. October 31, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Sources: Toronto Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava turns down Orioles GM position - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN". Msn.foxsports.com. November 16, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  10. ↑ Strong, Gregory (November 2, 2015). "New Jays boss Shapiro names LaCava interim GM, unclear why Anthopolous left". globalnews.ca. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ Davidi, Shi (December 3, 2015). "Blue Jays to name Ross Atkins as team's new general manager". Sportsnet. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  12. ↑ http://m.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article/158756906/ross-atkins-named-blue-jays-general-manager
Preceded by
Alex Anthopoulos		 Toronto Blue Jays general manager
2015 		Succeeded by
Ross Atkins
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