Six weeks after the sudden departure of John Coppolella, and on the eve of the opening of the 2017 GM Meetings, the Braves are set to name their new general manager. Alex Anthopoulos, who has spent time with the Expos, Blue Jays and most recently Dodgers will now take over and work to restore the teams image after a shaky six week stretch. During their search, the Braves were denied permission to talk to their top target in Dayton Moore who is still under contract with Kansas City.

The 40 year old Anthopoulos hasn’t been shy to pull the trigger on big trades over the course of his career. With Toronto, he acquired players like Troy Tulowitzki, David Price and Josh Donaldson. In addition, he helped complete a big deal with Miami in 2012 to acquire Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. So, much like his predecessor, he isn’t afraid to make big moves.

The Braves are expected to make the announcement official as the Front Office gathers in Orlando for the GM Meetings. And with just about three months to go until Spring Training opens, Anthopoulos will have plenty of work to accomplish in that time frame. Most notably, the rotation, bullpen and third base remain the most pressing orders of business. In addition, if the team hopes to add Ronald Acuna to the 2018 Opening Day roster, a move of either Markakis or Kemp would be necessary to open one of those corner outfield spots.

@KevinMcAlpin covers the Braves for @680TheFan and the @BravesRadioNet.