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Inside The Trenches With Duquette


soxhotcorner14

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Thanks SoxHotCorner,great insite. I heard from people that the O's system is still lacking. They don't spend alot of time preparing for games and doing fundamentals. Remember last year,when Buck asked if any guys can bunt,most of them said they never practiced in the minors. The O's farm teams sort of just show up. Also the Spring Training facility for the minors was a joke. I heard it got a little better the last two years.

Well, the minors spring training facility is hugely better, not just a little better.

As to the bunting thing, I don't remember Buck asking that question, but in any event, remember that a lot of Buck's team didn't come up through the Orioles' system -- Lee, C. Davis, Andino, Hardy, Reynolds, Jones, Scott, Pie, Vlad. That's more than 2/3 of the team's plate appearances. Angle certainly knows how to bunt.

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Question 1: He's much better in the areas of international scouting/player acquisition, recognizing talent, connections within the industry, has a good eye for player development/personnel. All things, in my opinion McPhail wasn't very strong in. MacPhail brings a lot of other qualities to the table that are much more suited for a higher up position.

Question 2: From what I saw after DD took over, it took him 2-4 years to get his players into his system, developed and on the cusp to contribute at the big league level in one way form or another. I remember when he came in he just blew up the entire organizational roster of players that were previously there to make room for "his guys". There were only a few left standing.

Keep in mind though, he has much more younger talent to work with here at the big league level than he did with the Red Sox.. so being competitive might come sooner rather than later. But 2-4 years to get the organization turning out prospects to help the ball club, or to help facilitate trades to make the club better.

Tough medicine but probably reality. I keep thinkin if (the operative word if) we could get three starting pitchers of average to above average talent............we could do it. Not sure that is the case

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As most of you guys know, I played baseball for the Red Sox in the early 90's.. was drafted by Lou Gorman and two years later Duquette took over as GM. I spent 2 years while Duquette was GM for the Red Sox What I wanted to do is give you guys an inside feel as to how the scene was prior and during while I was with the organization. Also give you a feel, as the fan what to expect from him from the top all the way down to the players.

Before Duquette

In the years of 92-93 the organization was pretty much how the O's are today.. not many prospects within the organization. Player personnel wasn't very good, it was more like a good old boys network that have been around for years. Coaching wasn't very good.. Although Bailey was pretty decent at Pawtucket.. but the remaining coaching staff through the minors was below average. Spring Trainings were ran like a country club.. no accountability, outside of just showing up on time. People would workout and then take off and go home while the game was still going on... it was a come and go as you please atmosphere.. but just make sure you show up on time LOL Clemens basically ran the show, he didn't have to abide by any of these rules and looking back, i can see why him and Duquette bumped heads once he took over the GM position in 94.

The facilities were just god awful, the Winter Haven complex made Ft. Lauderdale look like Camden Yards. Hell I remember getting our catered lunch and there was a pond right next to the clubhouse.. they'd have gators sitting right next to the damn tables while we were eating... as a 17 year old kid.. that scared the be-jesus out of me. LOL It just looked like a junkyard rather than a big league facility. Kind of like how the minor league complex looked in Sarasota for a long time, but 20 times worse. In 93, they relocated to Ft. Myers to a beautiful new stadium and minor league complex.. it was the best of the best at the time.

Duquette the New GM

Duquette was hired in 94 and when we showed up for spring training that year everything was totally different than it had been in the past. Majority of the player development and coaching staffs had been let go and he replaced them with hand picked coaches/development guys. This is where he's going to be most valuable to the Orioles. If you take a look back at all the guys he brought in to the organization as coaches and player development you'll recognize all these names are now in the big leagues in one form or another. Guys he brought in are as follows: Ken Macha, Bob Geren, Rick Peterson, DeMarlo Hale, Bob Shaeffer (Minor League Director), Al Nipper and the list goes on and on.. I'm sure i'm missing some good names but you get the picture... Most of these guys were guys that had bright futures in the game of baseball as coaches, player development guys etc... There were no guys just hanging around to collect a paycheck.. I can tell you as players, we couldn't stand Bob Shaeffer.. He was instructed by Duquette to change the entire MO of the organization from free reign, to fall in line or pack your stuff up and leave. Big change for us as players... I can tell you now, looking back.. I respect Shaeffer and Dick Berardino for all of their tough love.. They helped mold me to who I am today. Just like all 18 year old kids, we thought we knew what's best for us, when really we had no clue... Thank god for those guys.

Everything was regimented, from report times, treatments to side work, early work, stretching, conditioning, how you wore your uniform, off-season workouts, etc.. There was a plan for everything. No more wandering around in the off-season trying to figure out what to do to prepare for the upcoming season. This is another area where Duquette will help in this organization that sometimes seems like it's just a paper bag floating in the wind below the big league club. He will bring in top notch player personnel, coaches, trainers and FO guys to get this club to where it needs to be.. as you heard in his presser, he likes to have a lot players so they can help at the big league level and help bolster the big league team via trades... Make one thing for certain, he will not wait for the market to develop... he will execute trades if they're good for him.. he's very aggressive in this category. His track record speaks for itself.

International Front

in 95 I noticed we were getting a lot more latin guys into camp... He's very big on the international front. This will be a big sigh of relief for members on this board who constantly nailed McPhail for hardly dipping his toes into these waters. While I was there.. He brought in Freddy Sanchez, Rafael Betancourt (SS at the time), Jose Olmeda (top 10 prospect at one time) to name a few.. I'm missing a bunch of names so bare with me.. i'm trying to write all of this out for you guys... but I noticed we had latin guys from Panama, Dominican, PR, Aruba, Venezuela etc.. We had them from all over man and a bunch of them. He likes to gobble up as much talent from those countries in hopes that he lands a handful of prospects.. as you heard in his presser today, he likes to be aggressive and sign at reasonable dollars and get as many in as he can.

Talent

Duquette after 94 infused the club with more talent than it's ever had.. outside of me:thumbsup1: he drafted very well.. Garciaparra, Hillenbrand, Youklis, Pavano, Brian Rose, Donnie Sadler, Brian Barkley, Michael Coleman, Cole Liniak, Paxton Crawford, Matt Kinney, Jim Chamblee, Rontrez Johnson, Steve Lomasney.. as you see those are just a few names that made the big leagues under his drafts.. 94 and 95 drafts... Those are a lot players that either made it to Boston or were dealt to bolster the big league club. I can't recall the O's ever having that many players from 2 drafts making it to the big leagues. Believe me folks, they just don't call anyone up to the big squad unless you're good. Even though most of you might know these names, they were well respected names at the time.

Duquette The Person

As most of you have read, he's known to have pissed a lot of people off in Boston... Yes, he can come off as a *****.. He's a very intelligent person and he knows it... some people look at that as arrogance... I know with my one on one talks with him as a player.. he truly wants you to succeed.. He's there for you and will do anything for you and is very personable with us... But if you step out of line, he will be your worst night mare... Let's just say without divulging too many details... I made a mistake and it cost me a week on the DL for something stupid.. After my first treatment session he called me into his office.. I sat down and he laid into my tail and was warned if anything was to happen like that again, I might as well not report to the park. Pretty clear on my instructions :D All in all, the players got along with him well.. he's very personable when the cameras aren't around.

Overall he's exactly what this team needs in a very bad way.. some of my best years came under his tutelage.. He's not afraid to take chances, he will invest in the international market heavily and he's got great connections within the industry. And he's not afraid to piss someone off to make his team better... I'm pretty excited for the O's organization today, they have a good guy finally running the ship like most here wanted it to be ran.

Summary

As you can see, the O's organization is almost similar to what he inherited in Boston. He developed a lot of talent to either help the big team or to trade to get vital pieces for the big team. He had second to none player development guys as well as exec's to get that organization back to elite status.. Most of those pieces for 2004 were brought along in the organization that he developed and he doesn't get enough credit for that. I think the O's finally got someone that will help them be relevant in Major League Baseball again.

If anyone has any questions relating to my time spent there under him that I might not have covered just fire away and I will answer all questions in this thread.

SoxHotCorner

I'd love to hear how you see his work with the Orioles now a year in. Any changes from the man you knew?

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You can usually find an advocate for almost anyone, why the new guy has the particular skills and tools to turn around the ship. I mean that's nothing new we haven't heard over the course of having guys hired for lots of positions.

Seems like this time it was actually true. :laughlol:

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Not only was this a really great post, but it also seems to have been generally accurate.

International signings = up

Organizational Philosophy = more homogeneous

Respect for Organization from outside AND from within= way up

Working togetherness of organizational employees = excellent (Buck and Duke locked together on same page, Peterson (essentially a second ML pitching coach) given special position within org., Brady same thing, promotions from within, etc.)

Shrewd aggressiveness = definitely defines what we saw in 2012

And most importantly, bringing stability to an organization in chaos = :2yay-thumb:

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This post should be a candidate for the Hall of Fame. The guy was right in almost everything. And at a time when Orioles fans just heard lots of negative information about the guy.

I think Buck and Dan are going to make this team compete every year. We might not win championships but we will no longer be a doormat for big spending AL East clubs.

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SoxHotCorner's post seriously skewed my thoughts on Duquette very early on... OP 11-8-11. Days before or after (not sure) DD's hire date. It just melted into my brain and then each little part of it DD made happen for the O's. Player turnover, international, coaching top to bottom, training. Between Dan's actions et al and SHC's posts on here I have been on the DD bandwagon since like day 3. Had that slight hitch at first with the whole botched GM hiring process... but then I almost immediately realized we had fallen into the BEST possible option! Him paired with Buck is too good for words! I hate to semi-quote Ronny Reagan but It's Morning In Baltimore!

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