Toronto looking for New President to be Duquette.

[ShaneDawg85]

I think that's baloney.

I also think people are underestimating the potential that DD is frustrated with the O's. All the evidence suggests that the O's are being extremely tightfisted with the budget. 99.99% of sports executives would love to have a larger budget. The O's have lost significant players this offseason and have replaced them with marginal players, even though all evidence suggests that the O's could invest significantly more.

They sure weren't tight fisted last season. Of course the Orioles could have invested more, but as has been argued on here non stop, that doesn't mean they would have been the right moves to make. Many on here believed they wouldn't have been.

[Satyr3206]

After reading some of these posts a thought occurs to me. If Toronto has interviewed or made contact with DD or his agent, after the Orioles denied permission, is it out of the range of possibility to see another lawsuit for tampering with MLB named as a co defendant?

[eddie83]

The reason that teams give GM's 4 year extensions so they don't leave during that time. If they didn't care if you left year to year you would be like the Rays and not offer multi-year contracts for GM's and Coaches. And DD was under contract at the time he signed the extension. If he thought he might leave in a couple of years he could have turned down the extension and kept getting paid for 2 more years and then decided whether to re-up with the Orioles.

Anyway like I said before this isn't a promotion. Titles are meaningless. In either case he would be the top baseball guy with the club.

If it isn't a promotion then why is any of this happening? This isn't a "job title", as you suggest. DD will never be a CEO in Baltimore. MLB would have never let this get this far if it is a lateral move as you suggest.

[PA724_Oriole]

I think he needs to make a much more definitive statement if that is his real intent. Especially since the media (and there's not much else to cover baseball wise right now) are stirring the pot. I know definitive statements are not DD's forte, but if he wants to stay then he should make it really clear.

So him using the word committed in reference to his current contract isn't definitive enough?

Idk whats more definitive than saying you're committed. He could have been lying, but he could be lying by saying something that you think is more definitive as well.

None of us know what he's feeling/thinking, but that is what he said.

[DrinkinWithFermi]

If it isn't a promotion then why is any of this happening? This isn't a "job title", as you suggest. DD will never be a CEO in Baltimore. MLB would have never let this get this far if it is a lateral move as you suggest.

DD is currently, for all intents and purposes, the GM of the Baltimore Orioles. If he were to end up the CEO of the Blue Jays, he would, for all intents and purposes, be the boss of the GM in Toronto.

So yeah, it's clearly a promotion.

[turtlebowl]

Here's how I would play hardball.

Angelo's goes to Dan "are you really interested in in interviewing for the Toronto job"?

Dan "well it is a promotion and more money so yes"

Angelo's says "Ok Dan, I don't want to pay anyone who's heart isn't truly into this. I want you to sign a resignation letter today and you will be relieved of your duties immediately. Their will be a competitors clause in your resignation though. If you get a position with another front office in the next 4 years, which is the length of our contract, the other team will have to let the O's pick any 2 prospects from that organization as compensation."

Demand an answer today, if he declines tell him that he needs to set up a news conference and tell everyone that he bleeds orange and he has absolutely no other interest in any other position.

Problem solved, lol.

[stockpile]

Having DD under contract through 2018 is a considerable asset to the O's. PA gave Dan a chance after no other team would for more than a decade. That gamble obviously proved beneficial, and thus both parties agreed to an extension through 2018. Here come the Blue Jays back drafting on the O's trying to poach DD.

I think PA recognizes that his contract is an asset to the O's, one that has clearly benefited the team thus far, and will continue to do so through 2018. He should be very hesitant to give up this asset, especially when doing so could hurt the O's while providing a huge lift for a division rival. PA is in the driver's seat with all the leverage here. I would ask for top prospects plus Jose Bautista to play RF in return. Exorbitant? You bet. But if DD is the only man TOR wants, then they should pay accordingly. DD and his contract is a huge asset to the O's, so PA has every right to restock the O's in return for letting DD (and presumably much of his staff) go build a winner to complete against the O's. If they don't like it, then move on to someone else and DD will continue to honor the contract that he willfully signed with the O's. This really is unprecedented - Theo to the Cubs was a different league altogether, and with only 1 year left under contract.

I don't buy the whole "Dan won't put in a full effort here is his heart is elsewhere" argument. In order to position himself the best he possibly can, it is in his best interest to do exactly that while with the O's, however long that turns out to be.

[Ohfan67]

It amazes me how some of us think these sorts of things work. It is very entertaining to read this thread. However, I am not excited about what it means for the Orioles.

We all know the unspoken truth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_alien

[Ohfan67]

http://m.mlb.com/bal/video/topic/7417714/v37038769/dan-duquette-joins-hot-stove

Here's a long interview on Hot Stove on Decebmer 9. The questions comes up about Toronto. There is nothing in that interview where he comes close to saying he's committed to staying with the Orioles and not interested in the Toronto job. He just says that there is work to do to make the O's better and he's focused on that. Maybe you are talking about a different interview? If so, I'm sure we'd love to get the link.

Nice work.

Maybe PA724 is thinking of something else, but I definitely do not remember a definitive statement.

PA724 - Yes, I think DD should make a very, very definitive statement if he truly intends to stay.

[Ohfan67]

I disagree with this. Although neither of us have evidence' date=' I believe DD is the one that chose not to bring back Cruz, Markakis and Miller due to not getting value for them. I also believe he has not seen value for the dollar out there on the FA market. I do not believe Angelos stopped him from resigning either of these players.[/quote']

I don't disagree with specific moves, but I think the review of information regarding the MASN situation strongly suggests that the O's could invest significantly more money into he big league payroll and the minor league system. The Blue Jays have significantly outspent the O's. I suspect that DD like any other baseball executive would love to have a bigger budget. I also think that working for the Angelos' is no cake walk, even though things seemed to have improved from the "bad ole days".

[Guest]

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[24fps]

I wouldn't mind at all if PA dug in his heels on this one and put this whole "professional courtesy" notion to the legal test. As a general principle contracts should be honored. IMO it's especially true in this case because a contract extension is in effect that was given to a guy who needed to resurrect a career that had been in cold storage for 10 years or so.

Maybe it's time for someone to say "Uhhh no it's not OK for you to poach our guy, we don't appreciate this BS at this time and we still think your ex manager sucks."

[AlbionHero]

Kenny expands on the Duquette issue:

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/new-york-mets-should-trade-for-ian-desmond-braves-trade-craig-kimbrel-orioles-dan-duquette-011415

The Orioles need to part with GM Dan Duquette.

Yes, I noted the strong denial from Orioles owner Peter Angelos after both FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi and I reported that the Orioles had discussed a compensation package that the O's would require for allowing Duquette to become CEO of the Blue Jays.

To which I say: All part of negotiating.

Angelos told Dan Connolly of The (Baltimore) Sun that Duquette to the Jays "is not going to happen." Certainly, I would not expect Angelos to tip his hand. I also would not expect him to part easily with Duquette, who is under contract through 2018.

Here's the problem: Duquette wants the job, according to major-league sources; CEO is a step up from GM -- the highest position, in fact, that an executive can attain.

Duquette's preference is no secret within the Orioles' organization, creating a question of divided loyalties and an uncomfortable working environment. As I've reported previously, some of those employees believe that Angelos should allow Duquette to depart.

What would the Orioles do about a GM? Manager Buck Showalter likely would welcome more responsibility, perhaps even a dual manager/GM role. Special assistant Brady Anderson also could assume expanded duties, and the Orioles could hire an administrative type to make sure the front office ran efficiently.

Could Showalter succeed as both manager and GM? Probably not, considering that a GM's responsibilities are almost too much for one person, much less someone who also is managing. But that is a question for another time.

The bottom line is that Angelos has an employee who wants to be elsewhere. And that is not a healthy situation.

[Guest rochester]

All I know is that if this thing is as "toxic" as Roch reports then I would have some hesitation if I were the folks at Rogers.

I can not believe that there was no discussion with DD before the "leak." You don't take a GM and offer him a position as President without discussion.

I completely understand why the BJ's would like to have DD restructure their baseball operations but to have responsibility for two decent sized assets (BJ's $610M) and Rogers Centre seems like quite a hike in responsibility. Of course, we do not know what his responsibilities would be. The title means very little but the $$ has to be attractive for DD. If he even has a chance to do with the BJs what he has done with the Expos, Sawx and O's, along with the fact that he loves Canada, makes this a perfect fit. I hope for his sake that if he goes, he does his due diligence with the leaders of Rogers Communications.

Other stuff:

I have a gut feeling that Buck may be the "toxic" quote.

With both Beeston (see below link) and Anthopoulos also in limbo it may be worth noting that the BJs have been pretty active. They have treated Beeston like dirt IMO and Anthopoulos has to think he should be in line somewhere. He may be the "President in Training" (?) - he is the one with the economics degree.

I am starting to believe that we should let DD go if the BJ's will agree to a punitive swap, as long as DD can not take any of his hires under contract with him. Someone like Brady may be ready and we still have Buck, who, IMO, is a good to excellent scout of talent.

This is an interesting story about Beeston

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/01/14/toronto-blue-jays-president-paul-beeston-could-be-on-the-way-out-but-no-one-told-him-that/

Almost six weeks after the first reports that someone at the offices of Rogers Communications was actively searching for a replacement for club president Paul Beeston, the most visible link to the World Series years of Toronto’s baseball team, he remains a man without status. Not out of a job, so far as anyone at Rogers is willing to say publicly, but not in one, either. Beeston’s contract expired in October, and by the following month it was assumed he would be back in the job for at least the 2015 season — one that begins spring training in less than six weeks.

In the meantime, someone above him in the Rogers hierarchy started placing mysterious phone calls, to the Chicago White Sox about executive vice-president Ken Williams — or rather to Williams himself — and to the Baltimore Orioles about Dan Duquette, a vice-president and general manager in that organization. Reports out of both Chicago and Baltimore have said that the team owners, Jerry Reinsdorf and Peter Angelos respectively, were angered by the would-be poaching.

[SilentJames]

The Jays have handled this in a completely classless manner.

Sure inquire, but when rebuffed that should pretty much be it. I get the feeling that proper channels have not been followed and the Jays have allowed this to be played out in the media.