Toronto looking for New President to be Duquette.

[Mayor McCheese]

It is the same job. If DD went to Toronto he wouldn't be really the CEO he would still have to go to owners for budget and signing big free agents. Are you that easily fooled? I have been saying this for days and today Steve M's. interview with Keith Law says as much.

Maybe you do not understand the term of a promotion....

The job offer for the Blue Jays is above the GM position on the organizational hierarchy - which would probably include some more job duties, more pay, etc.

This qualifies as a promotion whether he is still doing the same "GM" duties.

[Guest]

It is a promotion but it doesn't give him the power that some folks think it would.

He won't be able to write his own budget and he will still be subject to the whims of those above him. Of course with a normal team there is a lot more stability at the top then you get with a team that is owned by a corporation.

Sure but look at it from Dan's point. The Board will give him a budget ranging from 120 to 150 any giving year. While Peter tells him to bargain shop. MLB Radio was talking about Peter on the air last night and said for Dan it's addition by subtraction.

[SteveO]

Oh he would be in charge of the Rogers Center? I am sure that is something he would be tickled to death to be in charge of. If he gives up player decisions and leaves it to the GM than it would be a promotion but he is going to be doing the same thing as before. And I am sure someone else will be managing the Rodgers Center.

Think your missing the point. So long as MLB says its a promotion, it is. Like or not. Pete can try to litigate that point but will lose. Judges do not get involved in the inner workings of leagues in that regard and frankly there is more than abundant precedent for the league to cite. (Epstein to the Cubs among others)

[Frobby]

I think something lost in all this is the political intrigue going on in the background. Its no secret that there are those in MLB who would love to stick it to Pete over the whole MASN-Nationals thing. Beeson the current team CEO of the Jays opposed Manfreds election as Commissioner. In some respects DD to the Jay's kinda settles two scores. Now Pete can talk all he wants about contracts, blah blah blah but if say MLB said after this season that Pete could not prevent DD from interviewing for a "promotion" and that this was a long and time honored tradition blah blah blah. Sure Pete can sue, sure he might even win some damages but no judge in their right mind is going to interfere with the inner workings of MLB. Judges tend to be willing to award monetary damages but seem to defer to the league as to how to interpret its bylaws and management etc. Besides if MLB allowed DD to accept that position, what is Pete gonna do? By the time a case is heard, listened to and adjudicated DD will have been in Toronto for good while, no judge is going to force him to step down. If they award damages it will not be more than the value of the remaining years and I doubt that it is that much.

If MLB allowed DD to interview and accept the job, the best thing Pete could do would be to work out compensation, accept DD is gone and sue MLB for further damages. To some extent a part of me thinks Toronto never realistically expected to land DD right now, they are simply serving up the first salvo to poach him later.

People can say all they want that it is not a promotion, their opinions really do not matter. All that matters is that in the eyes of MLB and MLB executives it would certainly be considered just that.

Not saying any of this will happen but its not crazy to think that some elements of it are in play at the very least. Just saying there are more moving parts going on here than most of us have talked about

I agree the Toronto CEO job appears to qualify as a promotion. I believe that the "tradition" of allowing executives who are under contract to interview for promotions is just that, a tradition. As a legal matter, there's a high probability that the Orioles can stick to the letter of their agreement and prevent Duquette from taking a job with Toronto during the term of the contract. However, I couldn't say that for certain without seeing the contract. Assuming I'm right about what the contract says, I seriously doubt MLB would allow Duquette to take a job in Toronto over the Orioles' objection, and if they did, I guarantee you Angelos wouldn't hesitate to drag the matter into court.

By the way, the more I think about it, the more hypocritical it would be for MLB to just allow executives to nullify their contracts, when the players are absolutely tied down once they sign a deal and can't even earn their market value for their first six years on the job.

[atomic]

Think your missing the point. So long as MLB says its a promotion, it is. Like or not. Pete can try to litigate that point but will lose. Judges do not get involved in the inner workings of leagues in that regard and frankly there is more than abundant precedent for the league to cite. (Epstein to the Cubs among others)

There is nothing about this situation that would require Peter to let him go because of the "Promotion". GM's don't have outs in their contract for promotions. DD isn't going to Toronto. Peter will make him a scout in Alaska before he lets him go.

[atomic]

I agree the Toronto CEO job appears to qualify as a promotion. I believe that the "tradition" of allowing executives who are under contract to interview for promotions is just that, a tradition. As a legal matter, there's a high probability that the Orioles can stick to the letter of their agreement and prevent Duquette from taking a job with Toronto during the term of the contract. However, I couldn't say that for certain without seeing the contract. Assuming I'm right about what the contract says, I seriously doubt MLB would allow Duquette to take a job in Toronto over the Orioles' objection, and if they did, I guarantee you Angelos wouldn't hesitate to drag the matter into court.

By the way, the more I think about it, the more hypocritical it would be for MLB to just allow executives to nullify their contracts, when the players are absolutely tied down once they sign a deal and can't even earn their market value for their first six years on the job.

Or to not let players who play above their contract to demand the team to le them take a promotion with another team.

[Can_of_corn]

Sure but look at it from Dan's point. The Board will give him a budget ranging from 120 to 150 any giving year. While Peter tells him to bargain shop. MLB Radio was talking about Peter on the air last night and said for Dan it's addition by subtraction.

You do not know that.

This is the same board that would not let them take on payroll at the deadline last season.

When they were contending.

As recently as 2011 they had a payroll of 70 million. (16 million less then the O's)

[atomic]

Sure but look at it from Dan's point. The Board will give him a budget ranging from 120 to 150 any giving year. While Peter tells him to bargain shop. MLB Radio was talking about Peter on the air last night and said for Dan it's addition by subtraction.

Yeah I am sure it is a better situation all around for Dan but I am sure that is true of other GM positions around the league. Less owner interference and contracts nixed because of Medical exams.

[mdbdotcom]

Oh he would be in charge of the Rogers Center? I am sure that is something he would be tickled to death to be in charge of. If he gives up player decisions and leaves it to the GM than it would be a promotion but he is going to be doing the same thing as before. And I am sure someone else will be managing the Rodgers Center.

Why not take a look at the way the Blue Jays front office is set up so you can see Paul Beeston's position and where it fits into the scheme of things?

[SteveO]

There is nothing about this situation that would require Peter to let him go because of the "Promotion". GM's don't have outs in their contract for promotions. DD isn't going to Toronto. Peter will make him a scout in Alaska before he lets him go.

I think you have a very unrealistic view of how this will all go down if DD did indeed want that position. He is never going to be a scout in Alaska, he will either decide to stay and honor his contract or if MLB provides a mechanism to accept the position citing precedent, he could take the job. Either way he will be the GM here or the CEO there. Simple as that.

MLB can most certainly step in and cite historical precedent and allow DD to interview with Toronto if they so chose to. They are the governing authority, Petes only recourse then is to sue. Pete can go to court and fight all he wants but the reality is that it would become so bogged down by the lawyers on both sides that by the time it actually got heard, DD would have been in the CEO position for at least a year or more.

Pete is no idiot. He is not going to spend millions trying to fight a cavalcade of MLB lawyers simply to punish DD. He will accept some form of compensation and be done with it. Now he will fight MLB on the MASN thing because frankly there is a ton of dough on the line. With DD though, there is no benefit to investing the time and money into a protracted legal battle.

[SteveO]

You do not know that.

This is the same board that would not let them take on payroll at the deadline last season.

When they were contending.

As recently as 2011 they had a payroll of 70 million. (16 million less then the O's)

I think the distinction is that he will get a budget of some sort be it 70 million or 150 million and will have very little interference from anyone regarding what he wants to do.

[UpstateNYfan]

Promotion, lateral move whatever. It doesn't matter to me. There should be a time period ( a moratorium) when an organization cannot discuss moving a GM from one organization to another whether its for the same position or a "promotion". And, it should be centered around the Winter Meetings. At the very minimum it casts doubt on the sincerity of the interviewee at the meetings. I also believe that if a person elects not to fulfill his/her contract there should be some compensation involved.

[Going Underground]

If DD does leave because of whatever happens,I can see BucK being the GM and Russell manager at least for this year.

[weams]

Maybe you do not understand the term of a promotion....

The job offer for the Blue Jays is above the GM position on the organizational hierarchy - which would probably include some more job duties, more pay, etc.

This qualifies as a promotion whether he is still doing the same "GM" duties.

And as a promotion, it still does not permit him to leave his current contract behind. And that is not a speculation on my part.

[Going Underground]

And as a promotion, it still does not permit him to leave his current contract behind. And that is not a speculation on my part.

What if Angelos gets pissed at him and tells him to leave?