Baffled in Baltimore: The Dan Duquette Saga

It started before the Winter Meetings and now keeps coming back up over and over again, like a dish of bad Mexican food. In early December it was announced that the Blue Jays wanted Dan Duquette to be their new team president – despite Duquette being under contract with the Orioles. It’s not uncommon for teams to make a request for an interview, but somehow this became public quickly and threatened to derail the Orioles offseason. To date, Peter Angelos has been the only one sticking to a concrete stance – Duquette is under contract and isn’t going anywhere. Duquette has done nothing to calm things or throw water on the fire, suggesting he may be trying to force his way out of a team he has led to two playoff appearances in the past 3 years, most recently a 96-win season that saw the Birds finish at the top of the AL East. So what are we to make of all this?

Let’s take a look at the key participants in this debacle and the role they’ve played.

Peter Angelos

For once O's fans can't blame ol' Pete
for Orioles' front office turmoil.

The consummate bad guy. Easy to hate and blame for anything and everything that goes wrong with this team. So far, he has dug in his heels and refused to let Duquette leave his post as Orioles General Manager – and shockingly has drawn criticism for it. Regardless of your views on ol’ Pete, he’s not in the wrong here. Yes, it is common practice for teams to allow their executives to leave for positions with other clubs that would be deemed a promotion, but it’s not a rule. Angelos is not the first owner

to deny his employee the ability to leave his contract, and he won’t be the least. Angelos isn’t even the only GM in this very case to deny his employee: Jerry Reinsdorf of the White Sox forbade Kenny Williams from interviewing with Toronto for the same position, but no one is on his case.

Duquette did amazing things his first two years as Orioles GM and was rewarded by Angelos for his with a 4-year extension, so it’s understandable he’s not rushing to let Duquette out of that same contract a year later. And I’m sure the fact that things became so public has not helped soften him on the idea.

Dan Duquette

Duquette’s behaviour in all this has been curious. He’s said nothing to quell the rumours and put out the fires, which would suggest he’s okay letting this circus play out so he can leave town. It’s possible Duquette has been working with the Blue Jays to try and force Angelos’s hand, but there’s nothing to prove that. At very least though, he’s allowing that perception to be created; a perception that he is trying to force his way out of town and undermine his current employer in the process. His reputation is taking a huge hit and he doesn’t seem to care. I understand his style of keeping information close to the vest, but this is one instance where he should have spoken up.

Duquette is still with the Orioles in body. Is his heart here too?

I’m incredibly disappointed in Duquette’s handling of this situation. I totally understand wanting a promotion, but it’s not a given (or a rule) that employers have to oblige. So if Angelos says no, you leave it at that and do your job. But it’s become very clear this debacle has affected the Orioles offseason

as they’ve let some prime outfield options waltz off the market at very reasonable terms and prices. All Dan had to say was that he’d expressed interest in the position, but now his focus was 100% with the Orioles and building for 2015. But he could not even do that with any kind of authority.

MLB

Many rumours have circulated that the Blue Jays were working with MLB to get this deal done. While I don’t doubt MLB wants to see it happen because it’s a promotion for Duquette, Jon Morosi reported today that MLB views this as an issue between clubs and is unlikely to get involved. Nor should they.

Toronto Blue Jays

In my mind, Rogers Communications, the owners of the Toronto Blue Jays, are the real culprits here. They began trying to poach other team’s executives (yes, I use the word poach because that’s what it amounts to) a week before the winter meetings. Kenny Williams and Dan Duquette were apparently approached by the Blue Jays, who leaked this information to the media to put pressure on Reinsdorf and Angelos. For some reason Reinsdorf has slid off into the background but Angelos still remains on the fire, but I digress. And not to mention all of this occurred without the knowledge of Paul Beeston. Who’s Paul Beeston, you may ask? That would be the Blue Jays president, signed through 2015. Yes, that’s right – Rogers tried to fill a position that was already filled, without informing the man who was currently filling it.

I’m sure there are many facts we don’t have in all this, but from what we do know so far, the Blue Jays have been very unethical in all this and may even be guilty of tampering. They approached GMs employed by other teams and leaked it to the media to put pressure on those GMs’ respective owners. Then when that didn’t work, they went to MLB like a kid tattling on a playground, hoping the teacher will take their side against the mean, unfair bully who, in actuality, is not the bully at all. The Blue Jays are the bullies here.

Solution

I don’t see any way to repair this situation and I think Angelos knows that as well. Even if Duquette came out now with a strong pro-Oriole statement, no one would buy it. The Blue Jays have gotten the result they were after all along, which was to create tension and havoc to the point where they’d ultimately have to be given their way.

If I’m Angelos, I’m putting an offer on the table for the Blue Jays that heavily rewards the Orioles. “I will let you have Duquette for XX – take it or leave it.” Make it public and put it in Toronto’s court. Then take what you get, send DD packing and get a replacement in pronto to start taking care of business in preparation for the upcoming season.

According to recent articles in the Baltimore Sun, there are some solid (though not spectacular) candidates lined up, including Omar Minaya, Ned Colletti and Kevin Towers. It’s also possible that Buck Showalter and Brady Anderson would jointly fill the role. Either way, it’s important for Angelos to step up and alleviate this uncomfortable situation and return some stability to the front office as soon as possible. It’s not his fault this situation is where it is, but he has the power to end it quickly for the sake of his franchise and its fans, and possible earn himself some goodwill in the process.

Send Duquette to Toronto and let him have a front row seat as the monster he created in Baltimore destroys his new team and continues to reap their recent success.

The Orioles will be just fine, everyone. Just fine.

--Christopher Mills, @cjmills82

Not that worried

 

This offseason has not been fun. I am right there with all of the other frustrated Orioles fans. After a 96 win, AL East winning, ALCS reaching season, to watch in the span of one week, Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis ( the most painful of all for me, I can't lie I shed tears when the news broke Nick was a Brave) and Andrew Miller leave via free agency, has been nothing but painful. Add to that seeing other teams in the division make moves and watching all the outfield options vanish one by one, and it has not been a joy at all.

Even with all this bad news, I still feel good about the 2015 season. No, I really do. I am not insane...well not completely insane. There are a lot of reasons to feel good about the Orioles in 2015. Even though the rest of the division has been busy making moves, I am not all that worried about the rest of the division. And, well, here's why.

New York Yankees

The Yanks got Andrew Miller. We as Orioles fans know just how good Miller can be, getting to see it the last two months of the season and in the playoffs. Miller and Bentances should make for quite the one two punch at the back end of their pen. But neither one of them have ever closed. So while I'm not saying neither won't be able to get the job done, it is still at least a question mark heading into the season. And hey, it's great to have lock down guys at the end of the game, but will they be able to get to either of them with a lead? They lost several starting pitchers, including Brandon McCarthy via free agency and others through trades. CC is coming off an injury, Tanaka could end up needing TJ still, and the list goes on. Their rotation is nothing to get excited about in my opinion. 

Then look at their infield. Desperately re-signing Stephen Drew because they had no second basemen. Injury concerns at first and catcher. Didi Gregorius gets the task of trying to replace Derek Jeter ( wait....wait...you mean to tell me that even though the mighty Derek Jeter retired there is still going to be a baseball season!!?? ) with his all glove and no bat. Also they have the fun circus that is Alex Rodriguez coming back. Color me not worried about them.

Toronto Blue Jays

Russell Martin is a good add. No doubt about it. Solid hitter, real good defense. Donaldson instead of Lawrie should be a plus. But at the moment they still have no second basemen, no closer and some holes in their pen. Stroman is a really good looking young pitcher, but after that I am not overly impressed with the rotation. The could have a vary good offense. But right now I still don't think they have enough pitching to win the division.

Tampa Bay Rays

They have lost their GM, their manager and then traded away almost every player who's name you know . They still have Longo and...well, that's about it. And they do still have darn good starting pitching. Their pen is a question. And again (how is this different from any other year?) they are all pitching and no offense. They seem to be in a transition phase. Their pitching could still make them annoying. But I don't think they are threat to make the playoffs.

Boston Red Sox

Maybe the most active of the teams in the division. They added two big bats, even though Sandoval's numbers have gone down each of the past few seasons, and Hanley Ramirez, who is a tremendous hitter, has had a problem staying on the field. They are moving him to the outfield, somewhere he has never played. Does that mean he can't do it? Of course not, but it is at least a question mark to start the year. They could have a fantastic offense, but then there is this other part of the game everyone that is in a panic over the moves they have made seems to forget: It's called pitching. They have made some moves, adding Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, and Justin Masterson, but I'm not sold. Porcello is a good addition, but I wouldn't call him an ace. Miley has had a couple solid years, but again doesn't really scare me. The Soxs have probably fixed their offense, but to me what their rotation appears to be right now is not impressive at all.

Now for the Orioles. Why should you actually not be too worried about the team? Well even though I will miss Nick Markakis, Alejandro De Aza could replace his production. Admittedly I am not the most thrilled person about the idea of Steve Pearce as the other starting corner outfielder. I feel his best role is playing 3-5 times a week and moving around between first base, the outfield and DH. But maybe I am wrong and he will be as productive, if not more so than he was this past season.

The Orioles also have three key players coming back from injuries or down seasons in Matt Wieters, Manny Machado and Chris Davis. I'm sure most people roll their eyes when they see this come up again, but really, I mean really a healthy Wieters and Machado and even a 2012 version of Chris Davis would be giant pluses for this team.

Manny Machado got off to a slow start in 2014. May and June were not great. But look at what he did in July and August. In July he hit .333/.356/.565. And in August .378/.429/.511. In just 327 ab's he hit 12 home runs. In 2013 he hit 14 in 667. Manny could easily be a 30 home run hitter this season. That will certainly ease some of the pain of losing Cruz and his 40 homers.

Matt Wieters changed his batting stance in 2014. And it worked wonderfully. He was off to by far his best season with the bat. The biggest change was noticed with Wieters hitting left handed. His numbers had always been less than stellar from the left side. Though he did seem to have better power left handed, 58 homers left handed and 34 right handed. Granted he gets more ab's from the left side since there are less left handed pitchers. But in 2013 Wieters hit .214/.270/.358 from the left side. After the change to his stance Wieters was hitting .325/.367/.482 left handed. That is one heck of a jump. If this change to his stance allows him to keep hitting like this left handed his bat will help make up for the players the Orioles have lost.

Chris Davis had one heck of a disaster of a season in 2014. The batting average under .200. The suspension for something he had approval to take before and now has approval to take again ( anyone else confused by all of this? I know I am ) . There is just no way he could be as bad as this past season. Davis was approved by MLB for Adderall use this season (the drug he was suspended for using last season - go figure) and new hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh has expressed confidence in a renewed Chris Davis this season. Also both he and Matt Wieters are in walk years, and will be looking to get paid big time.

Something else to think about: JJ Hardy had a back issue last year that may have lead to his down year, power-wise. If his back issues are gone we could see the return of the 20-30 homer JJ. As well there is the hope that Jonathan Schoop improves at the plate. He hit 16 homers as a rookie, but his BA was not great and at times he appeared to be swinging for the moon. If he can become a bit more selective and maybe just try and make contact instead of trying to kill the ball all the time he could have a good season and easily hit over 20 homers.

One theory as to why the Orioles have not gone after any of the free agent outfielders is that Dariel Alvarez may be on the verge of joining the big league club. He hit .309/.332/.487 with 14 homers in 359 AB's in double A last year. I don't think he will make the team out of spring training, but he is someone to keep an eye out for and he could make a big impact in 2015.

Then there is the pitching. The Orioles pitching, especially from June on, was a giant strength of the team. They have all 6 of their potential starters back. Gausman now has pretty much a full season in the bigs under his belt. He could be poised to take a big step and become the ever elusive “ace” of the staff. Also there is the bull pen. Yes they lost Andrew Miller, and yes he was fantastic in his short time in Baltimore. But everyone seems to forget this, the Orioles pen was really really good before the trade for Miller. It sucks to lose him. He was great, but this pen should be fine without him.

So yeah this offseason has been not so much fun. And it isn't over yet. So who knows. But even if nothing else is done, I still think this is a team that can win this division.

Matt Baggette @mlb930