Hot Stove Banquet - Ripken Stadium

[weams]

Thanks Weams! Great pics. Great quotes.

I have to say that I have thought the Angelos family handled the DD situation perfectly. I appreciate DD's honesty. And I almost feel bad for him. There is some sympathy that he cannot go to a higher ranking job. Still, if he were gone to Toronto for anything less than a haul of prospects, I would have been pissed.

Jim and Brooks said that it was quite a compliment to Dan to be considered for this. An opportunity of a lifetime. They also both thought that the Orioles should have been well compensated.

[weams]

[Flacco Machado]

Working on a write up guys.

[Flacco Machado]

What a great night at the Hot Stove Banquet in Aberdeen. Listed below are as many bullet points as I can remember.

-Luis Pujols was named manager of the Aberdeen Ironbirds. He was in attendance and part of the Q&A. Duquette brought up how the two knew each other from their Montreal Expos days.

-Stan Charles, immediately began the Q&A, with the Toronto situation. He said, "I'll just ask this and we'll move on. Has this been a distraction to adding pieces to the team?" Duquette chuckled. He then said, "Well, we didn't sign anyone until spring training last year, so we're ahead of schedule." This brought laughter from the crowd. DD then went on to say how building a team is a year round process. Scouting, free agency, international signings, the draft, etc. That was it, as far as the Toronto questions. I was really surprised and somewhat disappointed.

-Duquette was asked what our rotation was going to be to start next season. He paused and chuckled. Joseph, then said, "Hold on, I got my twitter ready." Dan, then replied, "Don't worry, they've got it covered, pointing to Roch Kubatko and Eduardo Encina. He predicted Tillman, Chen, Norris, Gonzalez, and Jimenez. He left out Gausman...for now.

-DD brought up TJ McFarland's name out of the blue. He still thinks he can be a starter. He also brought up the names, Logan Verrett, Mike Wright, and Tyler Wilson. He sees all three as starters and able to contribute. He really went out of his way to mention their names. It was at this point that Duquette said Gausman is going to have a breakout season.

-Charles, brought up the name, Eddie Gamboa. DD really likes him and mentioned his work with, Phil Niekro. Joseph, mentioned the improvement in Gamboa and how he's getting, "better and better". Joseph has also worked with R.A. Dickey. They are both from Nashville and have apparently crossed paths more than once. Joseph, reminisced on how difficult it is to catch a knuckleball.

-Duquette was asked if we are going to sign Nolan Reimold. He said they've made him an offer.

-Duquette said he remains in dialogue with 2 or 3 free agents and expects to sign them before spring training.

-Duquette mentioned Pearce as the starter in RF right now, but quickly brought up Travis Snider's name. Dariel Alvarez was also mentioned as an option later in the year.

-Duquette said all of their scouts are trained through the Harry Dalton system.

-Duquette was asked if he knew what WAR was and if he could explain it. He replied, "No." The crowd laughed. He then said to go to baseballreference.com and then once we are finished that we should go to fangraphs.com. Really a funny part of the night.

-Duquette praised Joseph's work ethic. He said, "Caleb has a huge supporter in Brady Anderson. Brady has gone to bat for Caleb many times."

-Joseph and his wife are expecting their first child. Charles, said he should name the baby, Dan. Duquette, shot back, "No, you should name him, Brady." Laughter ensued.

-Duquette told a fascinating story about Mike Yastrzemski. Duquette, is very close with the family dating back to his days in Boston. Duquette's son played in the same youth league as Mike. The draft rolls around and Mike's grandfather, Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, asks Duquette to draft Mike. Duquette's reply was, "What about the Red Sox?" Carl said, "He'll do better with you because there won't be as much pressure. Just one thing. I need to fix his swing. Let me work with him." Duquette said, "Ok." Mike, worked with his grandfather and was allowed to show up a couple days late to camp. Duquette then went on to praise the season that Mike had and fully expects him to be good major leaguer.

-Duquette was asked about being out of MLB for 10 years. He said he was really involved in youth baseball. He even tried to start a league in Israel. Still maintained contacts with others in the league.

-Pujols played a big part in the acquisition of Bud Norris. Pujols, was a manager in the Astros organization when Bud was there. He gave really good reports to Duquette and that sold him to make the trade.

-Joseph was asked about his offseason. He said that he's working extremely hard and feels an even greater sense of urgency to get better now that he's made it to the majors.

It was a great night. My overall opinion, is that we are very blessed to have Dan Duquette, along with Buck Showalter guiding this organization. Duquette, comes off very comfortable with who he is and what his vision is. Will we go through this saga next winter? Probably. But, that's next season. It's clear the 2015 Baltimore Orioles are the focus, right now.

[mcpd]

Good stuff. Thanks for posting it.

[mdbdotcom]

Thanks for the report, FM. Great job.

[bobmc]

Thanks for the report, FM. Great job.

Second - er - thirded! :clap3: HHP!

btw - what was the entree - Esskay? :scratchchinhmm:

[fastball]

That was Great to hear,Thanks for the good report.

[bobmc]

DD and his Montreal Expo's bud and Astros "scout" Luis!

[jtschrei]

Thanks Flacco Machado! Awesome work. "Who are the 2-3 free agents we are negotiating with?" Got to be relievers or AAA depth guys, no?

[AdamK]

When are they going to hold one of these events in Colorado?

[Flacco Machado]

The food was great! Pork, chicken parmesan, green beans, potatoes, zucchini, pilaf rice, and rolls. They had desserts too, but I didn't grab any.

[Flacco Machado]

Thanks Flacco Machado! Awesome work. "Who are the 2-3 free agents we are negotiating with?" Got to be relievers or AAA depth guys, no?

He didn't say. Judging by what he told Roch, I would imagine it's a couple of relievers. I think we're set with position players.

[Flacco Machado]

One thing I failed to mention. Duquette said that Sarasota is the best city in MLB for spring training. I'd have to agree. I've been there a couple of times.

He also complimented all of our minor league facilities. He said, "If we can't develop ballplayers with these facilities, then we're not doing something right."

[Flacco Machado]

Caleb Joseph is an awesome guy. It's hard not to root for someone like him who has persevered for so many years. I was surprised at how tall he is. I'm 6'1''. He's definitely got to be 6'3" or 6'4''. He spoke many times about how close he was to giving up baseball. Again, Brady is/was a huge supporter of his.