NEW YORK—Take a deep breath, fans. Incoming Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro is not just some guy off the street being handed the CEO job while at the same time strong-arming local golden boy Alex Anthopoulos out of his Rogers-given responsibilities in the area of player personnel.

No, all of the well-deserved negativity, the methods and madness of replacing the 38-year-old Anthopoulos as GM — even though it was his choice not to accept a multi-year role with less responsibility — should be directed to Rogers ownership and what they had promised Shapiro, the former Cleveland Indians president, to convince him to make the move.

This was not a power play by the 48-year-old native of Cambridge, Mass., to oust Anthopoulos, the man who finally brought the Jays back to the post-season.

Other than the fact Anthopoulos is Canadian, with a Canadian wife and Canadian children, and worked closely with Baseball Canada to promote the game in this country at the elite levels, other than those patriotic factors, there are similarities in the careers of Anthopoulos and Shapiro.

Shapiro took over as Indians GM in 2001, a boy wonder at the age of 33. He had been assistant GM to John Hart and was promoted from within. He took the Indians to his first post-season in his sixth season, in 2007, earning him the Sporting News’ Executive of the Year. It was his second such award.

Anthopoulos took over as Jays GM at the end of the 2009 season, a boy wonder at the age of 31. He had been an assistant to GM J.P. Ricciardi and was also promoted from within. He took the Jays to the post-season in his sixth season and was named Sporting News Executive of the Year, coincidentally announced during the conference call in which he offered his resignation on Thursday.

Alex Anthopoulos' Baseball Career

Including the 2010 season — Shapiro’s last as GM of the Indians and Anthopoulos’ first as Blue Jays GM — Toronto was 489-483 and the Indians were 475-496. In the biggest trade between the two teams over the past six years, the Indians easily came out on top in trading right-hander Esmil Rogers for catcher Yan Gomes and infielder Mike Aviles.

Now that Shapiro and the Jays do not have a GM, the likelihood is he brings in someone close philosophically to his way of team-building, a preference that involves player development more than free agency. Which leads to questions about the future of manager John Gibbons, likely the only man in history to be named manager of a major-league team twice without having applied even once.

Gibbons was Toronto’s first base coach in 2005 when Ricciardi said to him after a loss at Yankee Stadium: “Don’t leave.” Ricciardi then went and fired Carlos Tosca and gave the job to Gibbons. Years later Gibbons, after coaching with the Kansas City Royals and then managing a season with the Double-A San Antonio Missions, flew to Toronto, meeting with Anthopoulos late in 2012, thinking he was being interviewed for a bench coach or pro scouting job. Instead, he was asked if he wanted to manage. The rest is history.

“Alex did a great job restoring winning baseball in Toronto,” said Gibbons, who on Thursday assumed he’s back until told otherwise. “He’s a great baseball guy and an even better individual.”

Gibbons, under the unique terms of his deal, is under contract for one more year, paid through 2016. If he is still employed on New Year’s Day, then he receives an automatic extension through 2017. Gibbons is clearly an Anthopoulos hire, and if Shapiro wants his own man running the team from the dugout, the change will happen in November so they can make plans for the Winter Meetings.

It was always assumed that when Paul Beeston left, and if Anthopoulos was to leave, Gibbons would not be far behind. It’s a tough situation for Gibbons and his coaching staff and for all of Anthopoulos’ front-office lieutenants. It’s almost November and most organizations have filled their on- and off-field staffs.

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Beeston was the first domino, Anthopoulos the second. There likely will be more casualties.

It will be a long winter. Each February, the Jays host season-ticket holders at the ballpark for a feel-good State of the Franchise pep-rally. Following this year’s post-season run, next year’s address would likely have been epic.

But now, with fans questioning why MLB’s Executive of the Year wasn’t treated with the respect he was due, the most accurate “state” of the Jays’ franchise is “state of disarray.”