Shapiro to step down as Indians GM after 2010

In an interesting announcement today, Mark Shapiro stated that after the 2010 season, he will step down as GM of the Cleveland Indians and assume the role of team president. Don’t expect a search for a big-name replacement though, as Chris Antonetti will be the one who steps into the GM role for 2011. Antonetti has been Shapiro’s assistant since 2001 when John Hart stepped down as GM of the Cleveland Indians and Shapiro took over.

For Cleveland fans, the past 9 seasons have been very hard to take. A constant flux in talent have caused many casual fans to turn away from the club and find better ways to spend their money than going down to Progressive Field for a ball game. The last two seasons have been particularly difficult for even the most die-hard of Indians fans as they watched Shapiro deal not one but two Cy Young winners (CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee) away in consecutive years, as well as fan favorite Victor Martinez. It seems bizarre that after all of the moves he has made over the last few seasons Shapiro would step down now with a young team of very good prospects being only a couple of seasons from contention, but perhaps he feels that the time is right for Antonetti to step up and try to lead the team that he has assembled to glory.

Antonetti began his career with the Montreal Expos in 1997 and worked in their player development system until joining the Indians in 1999 as assistant to the baseball operations development. He has been Shapiro’s right hand man in all of the deals and transactions that have taken place over the last few seasons, and knows the club and its prospects in and out. He also seems to be a favorite of the team’s owners the Dolans, which may have given him the leg up to assume GM duties next year.

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It will be interesting to see how the fans of Cleveland react to this move as a large number of them have called for Shapiro’s ousting after the fiasco of the past two seasons. After a solid 2007 campaign which saw the team come within one game of their first World Series appearance in 10 years the club has experienced a downward spiral over the last two years which saw the majority of its talent traded for young prospects to rebuild and save money. While the team looks like it may be ready to contend by 2012 with their current roster, it will take a lot of convincing on the part of the new GM and manager Manny Acta over the next year to get many of the fans to buy into the future of this ball club, especially if the Cavaliers are able to keep LeBron James and the Browns are actually able to turn things around in the fall.

By Robert Gonzalez
Cleveland Indians Correspondent

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