BREAKING NEWS- Duquette Resigns

[JTrea81]

MacPhail said he wants somebody to oversee scouting (Joe Jordan + John Stockstill) and player development (Dave Stockstill). Hopefully the guy he brings in will work well with Jordan. I'd hate to lose him. I think the jury is still out on the Stockstill brothers particulary John. Our international scouting has been terrible.

[OrioleWay27]

Well, I'm not so sure that a HC has that much influence over an ML player's development.

Millar, Roberts and Markakis are all patient hitters, and each has worked with Crowley for at least two years. Each was a patient hitter before they got here, and each still is.

Patterson and Payton were both legendary hackers before they came here, and they still are.

Look, I'd love to have a new hitting coach - one who uses taser shocks on a player's ankles whenever he swings at a pitch out of the zone - but the fact is that plate discipline, like most skills in life, is easier to teach to the youngest students.

I used to be the Captain of the Fire Crowley Express, trust me. But now I just don't care. He's only the tip of the iceberg. We need to draft players who already have good plate discipline (along with lots of other skills, natch), AND hire coaches who preach it at every level.

Crowley is only a tiny part of the problem. The ORGANIZATION is the problem.

What is absolutely amazing to me is that our decade of losing has one constant theme - one man - besides PA throughout NINE of the 10 years of losing:

Terry Crowley.

Ever since we've had him, our offense has been among the worst in baseball almost every single year. I know he's had nothing to work with, but dear God, much better and more talented men have been fired over far less. The lack of accountability is astounding, I can't stress it enough.

[Frobby]

Exactly, and Markakis is still somewhat too aggressive in the batter's box. I think he could be a superstar given the right hitting coach.

You have GOT to be joking. Do you realize that Markakis struck out looking 43 times? Do you realize that when he put the first pitch in play he hit .393/.388/.750? The last thing Nick is is too aggressive.

[24fps]

I'm sure Duquette resigning is no surprise to anyone. I do disagree that his coming here was a no-win situation for him personally. I think he's leaving after demonstrating that he was a reasonably capable executive who happened to work for a while at a no-win organization. My guess is that long-term, his tenure here will be viewed as a stepping stone not a liability.

Of course Flanagan's fate is much more interesting. Duquette has shown the proper response to having one's legitimate authority ursurped. What will Flanagan do if he find's himself equally marginalized? He doesn't have much of a track record outside the Orioles organization.

Some people have pointed at the improvements in the Orioles' minor league system over the last few years as Flanagan's major accomplishment. OK, fair enough. By giving him overall executive responsibility for minor league development, that would take care of two important things. It would get him out of the decision-making process for the major league team, and it would be face-saving enough to allow him some dignity after so bluntly losing the job of running the Orioles. Remember, he was really sandbagged by the way MacPhail was hired, and that still has to hurt regardless of what he might say publicly.

IMO it would really be to Flanagan's benefit if something like this happened. He would have a job in the Orioles organization where he has shown some strength, he would have enough respect to allow the memory of this current defeat to comfortably fade, and most importantly he would be in a position to watch how MacPhail operates over the next few years and perhaps be better equipped to be a successful GM in the future.

My reading of the article that was the basis of this thread leads me to believe that this probably won't be the case.

MacPhail said today he has started a list of candidates and the prerequisites for the position are "somebody that knows me and has a background principally in player personnel." MacPhail declined to say whether the new hire would be considered the No. 2 executive in the front office, leapfrogging Flanagan. However, he does envision the hire overseeing scouting and player development. -Baltimore Sun-

It seems to me that if he wanted to keep Flanagan inside the tent, AP would not be so specific with the language "somebody that knows me...", and would not pointedly decline to publicly support Flanagan's role as #2 when asked by the beat reporter for the main media outlet covering the team.

Will Flanagan take the hint? Has some tacit agreement been worked out with PA and AP? I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't turn out to be a clear yardstick as to how much latitude Angelos is qenuinely willing to give MacPhail.

I don't know any more than anyone else at this point, but my guess is that Flanagan also resigns although it might be in a more choreographed way that the way Duquette left.

[RShack]

What is absolutely amazing to me is that our decade of losing has one constant theme - one man - besides PA throughout NINE of the 10 years of losing:

Terry Crowley.

Nope, it's not just one guy, it's two. And you're blaming the wrong one.

It's really Ernie Tyler. He's been here EVERY year! Look, I might not be in favor of getting rid of everybody who's 30, but I'm all over the idea of clearing the field of everybody who's 60. And exactly when did Ernie turn 60? You guessed it: at the beginning of the '84 season!!! Facts is facts: we won the WS, then Ernie turned 60, and we haven't been back since. You're clearly blaming the wrong guy.

End of story! Period! (etc, etc.)

[bigbird]

I'm sure Duquette resigning is no surprise to anyone. I do disagree that his coming here was a no-win situation for him personally. I think he's leaving after demonstrating that he was a reasonably capable executive who happened to work for a while at a no-win organization. My guess is that long-term, his tenure here will be viewed as a stepping stone not a liability.

Of course Flanagan's fate is much more interesting. Duquette has shown the proper response to having one's legitimate authority ursurped. What will Flanagan do if he find's himself equally marginalized? He doesn't have much of a track record outside the Orioles organization.

Some people have pointed at the improvements in the Orioles' minor league system over the last few years as Flanagan's major accomplishment. OK, fair enough. By giving him overall executive responsibility for minor league development, that would take care of two important things. It would get him out of the decision-making process for the major league team, and it would be face-saving enough to allow him some dignity after so bluntly losing the job of running the Orioles. Remember, he was really sandbagged by the way MacPhail was hired, and that still has to hurt regardless of what he might say publicly.

IMO it would really be to Flanagan's benefit if something like this happened. He would have a job in the Orioles organization where he has shown some strength, he would have enough respect to allow the memory of this current defeat to comfortably fade, and most importantly he would be in a position to watch how MacPhail operates over the next few years and perhaps be better equipped to be a successful GM in the future.

My reading of the article that was the basis of this thread leads me to believe that this probably won't be the case.

MacPhail said today he has started a list of candidates and the prerequisites for the position are "somebody that knows me and has a background principally in player personnel." MacPhail declined to say whether the new hire would be considered the No. 2 executive in the front office, leapfrogging Flanagan. However, he does envision the hire overseeing scouting and player development. -Baltimore Sun-

It seems to me that if he wanted to keep Flanagan inside the tent, AP would not be so specific with the language "somebody that knows me...", and would not pointedly decline to publicly support Flanagan's role as #2 when asked by the beat reporter for the main media outlet covering the team.

Will Flanagan take the hint? Has some tacit agreement been worked out with PA and AP? I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't turn out to be a clear yardstick as to how much latitude Angelos is qenuinely willing to give MacPhail.

I don't know any more than anyone else at this point, but my guess is that Flanagan also resigns although it might be in a more choreographed way that the way Duquette left.

This nails it on the head. It also tells you the makeup of both Duq and Flanny.

Duq brought back respect to the front office from baseball execs and scouts alike. He was alsodecisive in making moves. Benson goes down and within 24 hours Trachsel is signed (who by the way netted us 2 decent players). Say all you want about Flanny's involvement with the minor leagues we're still very very bad after his 5 years in contol. It should alo be noted that our AAA team is in Norfolk because of Duq and Duq alone. His relationship with the Norflok made the deal happen and I understand they are none too happy about his departure.

[Fairfax Bird]

This nails it on the head. It also tells you the makeup of both Duq and Flanny.

Duq brought back respect to the front office from baseball execs and scouts alike. He was alsodecisive in making moves. Benson goes down and within 24 hours Trachsel is signed (who by the way netted us 2 decent players). Say all you want about Flanny's involvement with the minor leagues we're still very very bad after his 5 years in contol. It should alo be noted that our AAA team is in Norfolk because of Duq and Duq alone. His relationship with the Norflok made the deal happen and I understand they are none too happy about his departure.

It is clear to me through your comments that either Duq or someone working for Duq was your source.

[Ruzious]

I've got some nice swamp... er beachfront property for sale to anyone who thinks Flanny and Crowley and a bunch of others will still be with the O's next season.

[Fairfax Bird]

I've got some nice swamp... er beachfront property for sale to anyone who thinks Flanny and Crowley and a bunch of others will still be with the O's next season.

I think Flanny will be happy to take a secondary role in the organization. Crowley, Mazzone, and a whole host of other FO types will be IMO.

[Tony-OH]

I'll be very surprised if Flanagan is still with the team in any meaningful position. Everything I read and hear indicates MacPhail is fully in charge and is now putting together his team to move forward. The bigger issues is where do Joe Jordan and David Stockstill reside after all of this?

Both have shown promise, but the minor league system continually gets rated low by sources like BA and although Jordan has only three drafts under his belt, he has yet to draft a player who has impacted at the major league level and really, when you look at things in the system, none are on the immediate horizon. Olson and Reimold are the closest and both have question marks on whether they can be impact players or role players in the major leagues. We do not have a can't miss superstar in the entire system (Weiters is still an unknown).

As much as I like both men professionally and personally, and I do think they have both improved the minor league system overall, you wonder if MacPhail wants a whole new team.

One of the first things he needs to do is to get the Orioles active into the foreign talent markets. We have to compete for top talent in the Dominican and ABC islands again at the very least and also get into the top Venezeulan talent as well. To compete with the Yankees and Red Sox, we have to open up our amateur talent search and that means being willing to spend money in those areas. We can not afford to do things on the cheap in these markets if we have any hope of competing with the payrolls of the Red Sox and Yankees over a 162 game schedule. The asian market is another one the O's need to get active in as well. We must out scout, out develop, and out smart the Yankees and Red Sox before we can even think of having a chance in the AL East.

[bej6789]

interesting little Zrebiec tidbit in the Sun today in Schmucks article, he posts some possibilities as his right hand man:

Larry Corrigan, Oneri Fleita and Bill Harford

[Cokeman]

It is clear to me through your comments that either Duq or someone working for Duq was your source.

I guess it could have changed, but BB had a source long before Duquette came to Baltimore.

[Sports Guy]

I guess it could have changed, but BB had a source long before Duquette came to Baltimore.

I am just guessing but i am guessing his source was more in the know with Duq...Probably because of better communication.

[mikezpen]

I'm a little more positive about Jordan than you, Tony, although I admit to an utter lack of knowledge about the guy. I'd give him a couple of years yet.

Some key guys he's drafted have been held up by injuries as much as by a lack of talent. And that is the management/coaching/medical staff's area of responsibility, not Jordan's. Would you feel different if Reimold, Olson, Snyder and Rowell hadn't gone down with injuries? Reimold and Olson mite be knocking at the door now. Wouldn't things look better then?

As for Stocktill, I agree that he can go.He's been around a long time, and it's very possible that we now have an "old boys network" of buddies hanging around the farm and he won't fire anybody.I know I repeat myself, but people always blame the scouting when the farm system doesn't produce. I think it's the lack of management and coaching. I'd love to see MacPhail bring in a new farm director-carrying a broom.

[Ohfan67]

This nails it on the head. It also tells you the makeup of both Duq and Flanny.

Duq brought back respect to the front office from baseball execs and scouts alike. He was alsodecisive in making moves. Benson goes down and within 24 hours Trachsel is signed (who by the way netted us 2 decent players). Say all you want about Flanny's involvement with the minor leagues we're still very very bad after his 5 years in contol. It should alo be noted that our AAA team is in Norfolk because of Duq and Duq alone. His relationship with the Norflok made the deal happen and I understand they are none too happy about his departure.

Too bad his 90 million dollar roster was a joke. If signing Steve Trachsel out of desperation is your best move when you have a 90 million dollar payroll, then that basically says it all and certainly says everything I need to know about the "makeup" of Duq and Flanny.