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

All Hail St. Peter

It’s late December 2013. It’s announced that the Orioles are close to signing Grant Balfour to a 2 year/$15M contract to replace departed closer Jim Johnson. O’s fans get giddy with excitement, anticipating another piece of the puzzle falling into place. But then…

Rumours begin to trickle out that Balfour has failed his physical. The rumours turn out to be true and several days later Orioles GM Dan Duquette announces a deal will not be happening. A large group of Orioles fans rage and media personnel start firing their shots, first blaming Duquette, then, deciding Dan is just a puppet, they move on to Satan himself – owner Peter Angelos. I heard it all that week.

“THE ORIOLES DON’T CARE ABOUT WINNING!”

“THE ORIOLES WILL NEVER WIN AS LONG AS ANGELOS OWNS THE TEAM!”

“ANGELOS IS CHEAP! HE WILL NEVER SPEND WHAT IT TAKES FOR THIS TEAM TO CONTEND!”

Those are some of the more tame quotes, but you get the idea.

Fast forward ten months. The Orioles are on the cusp of their first World Series berth in 31 years. As they prepare to face the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS, a surprising announcement comes through that the Orioles have extended short stop J.J. Hardy – 3 years/$40M, with a vesting option for a fourth year.

Owner of the Orioles for 21 years, Peter Angelos has taken a
lot of flack from fans and media. With the team's recent turn
around, it's time to finally give him the credit he deserves.

Now before we go any further, I want to make a few things clear. I am not an Angelos apologist. I do not think Angelos is a great owner (nor do I think he’s the devil incarnate). And I do not solely blame Angelos for all the years of losing in Baltimore. Poor decisions by GMs, terrible drafting and weak on-field managing contributed greatly. But now, here we are – Angelos still owns the team and yet they just completed a third winning season, making the playoffs for the second time in three years. And money is being spent.

Truth be told, I have no idea where the “Angelos is cheap!” rumours started. Maybe it was his refusal to pay Mike Mussina back in 2001 (definitely a black mark against him). Maybe it was all the years of losing. But if you look back, you will see that Peter Angelos has always spent money when it made sense to do so.

I understand that people wanted players like Vlad Guerrero (the first time), Mark Teixeira or AJ Burnett (also the first time), but they didn’t make sense at the time. As fans, it’s easy to spend money that is not ours, but spending $50M+ to go from a 68-win team to a 72-win team just isn't logical.

The Orioles were among the highest payrolls in baseball in the late 90s. They were second to the Yankees from 1995-97, first in 1998 and fifth in 1999. They made back to back ALCS appearances in ’96 and ’97 and likely would have returned to the playoffs in 1998 were it not for a slew of injuries. Then the wheels fell off.  For years it didn’t make sense to spend big money, but even then, Angelos decided to take a shot when he felt the O’s were close enough, committing over $125M to Miguel Tejada (a season removed from an MVP award), Javy Lopez, Sidney Ponson and Rafael Palmeiro before the 2004 season.

He signed Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts and Adam Jones to long, wealthy extensions during the lean years.

This offseason, he gave the okay on a $52M deal for Ubaldo Jimenez (which admittedly hasn’t worked out so far) and $8M for Nelson Cruz – the biggest bargain in all of major league baseball this season.

That’s a lot of money spent over the years by a “cheap” owner. And dare we get into the deals that weren’t made?

Over the years, Angelos and the organization have drawn criticism for not signing the likes of Teixeira (how’s that working out for the Yanks the last couple season?), Carlos Delgado, Ivan Rodriguez, Prince Fielder, Burnett, Jayson Werth, Zack Greinke and this past offseason alone, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Bronson Arroyo, Burnett again, Jim Johnson and, of course, Grant Balfour.

Some of those players performed well on short deals, but most were either way too expensive or did not even come close to living up to their deals. Looking at the deals players from this past off-season received and how they performed, I’d say ol’ Pete is coming up roses. Ellsbury is the only guy who might eventually come close to being worth what he was given. None of the remaining players even finished the season, either due to injury or ineffectiveness.

I understand the emotions that come with being a fan, but restraint is needed. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed when the Balfour deal fell through, but the World Series is not won in November. As fans we need to be willing to let the process play out and see what the outcome is. As it turns out, Grant Balfour will have a comfy seat in front of his TV to potentially watch the Orioles play in the World Series.

I will say again, I am not a Peter Angelos apologist. I think he has some serious shortcomings as an owner, most notably the way he interacts (or doesn’t interact) with the fan base to create a more positive image for himself and more trust between his organization and the city that supports it. But there are far more brutal owners across baseball (and all pro sports) – owners who truly don’t care about winning, who pinch pennies because all their care about is squeezing every last bit of profit out of their teams, and who totally disregard their fans.

No matter how you feel about Angelos, he doesn’t fall into any of those three categories.

Over the last few years, I’ve heard so many people get credit for the winning seasons here in Baltimore – the players, Andy MacPhail, Buck Showalter, Dan Duquette, and so on, all very much deserved. But there’s one person missing from that list and after all the abuse and hatred he’s endured over the years, it’s high time he finally gets credit where it’s due.

As Orioles fans, it’s time we collectively tipped our cap to the man at the top - Peter Angelos.

--Christopher Mills, @cjmills82