Tony LaCava promoted to Blue Jays interim GM

Tony LaCava has been promoted to interim general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.

New Blue Jays president and chief executive officer Mark Shapiro confirmed the move at a news conference today.

LaCava served as an assistant to former GM Alex Anthopoulos last season.

Anthopoulos spent six years as general manager but declined to sign a new contract last week.

Shapiro also confirmed that manager John Gibbons will be back next season.

The Blue Jays reached the playoffs for the first time in 22 years last month but were eliminated by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series.

LaCava, seemingly a candidate for every GM opening in recent years, reportedly interviewed for the Los Angeles Angels GM job at the end of the regular season, and is said to have turned down the GM job with the Baltimore Orioles in 2010.

He has been with Toronto since 2002, becoming the assistant GM in 2007 and two years later added director of player development to his portfolio.

In 2002, LaCava worked in Cleveland with Shapiro as a national crosschecker for the Indians, meaning he was responsible for comparing the prospects uncovered by the team's scouts in different regions of the United States and reporting to the director of scouting.

It's believed LaCava had a lot of input in the memorable trade in June 2002 when the Indians acquired first baseman Lee Stevens and prospects Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips from the Montreal Expos for ace pitcher Bartolo Colon and minor league pitcher Tim Drew.

Lee and Sizemore were outstanding additions in Cleveland, where the former won 90 games and was named the 2008 Cy Young Award winner as the top pitcher in the American League while Sizemore was one of the top outfielders in the league from 2005 to 2008.