Report: Indians Mark Shapiro to become new Blue Jays president

The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly found their next team president. Cleveland Indians president Mark Shapiro is set to take the same job with Toronto, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports. The club is expected to announce the move in the next few days.

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Shapiro will replace Paul Beeston, who is expected to retire at the end of the season. Sources told Heyman Shapiro intends to keep general manager Alex Anthopoulos, which makes sense considering the team’s success this year. Anthopoulos’ contract is up at the end of the season, but Shapiro is expected to retain him.

Shapiro has been a member of the Indians organization since 1991. He worked his way up through the franchise during the 90s, eventually becoming the team’s general manager in 2001. As the club’s GM, Shapiro was named Executive of the Year two times according to Sporting News. He led the team to two first place finishes in the American League Central.

In 2010, Shapiro was promoted to team president, allowing Chris Antonetti to take over as the club’s general manager. With Toronto, Shapiro should have a much higher payroll. 

Both Shapiro and Dave Dombrowski had been mentioned as possible candidates for the Blue Jays job for quite some time. Toronto spoke with Dombrowski, but he eventually decided to head to Boston, leaving Shapiro as the most desirable candidate. 

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik