256 replies to this topic

[Tim Keogh]

As I sit here and watch the trades run across the headlines, I see a note from Sir Dan wherein he basically states we will not be looking for "high priced pitching talent"? I am less than thrilled with his resume with The Orioles and think he has the passion of a cement block. He relies on Buck to pull off miracles with his flea market shopping style and that is simply unfair. We need to either 1) rebuild now or 2) spend real money to add real talent. This limbo we stay in is both frustrating and unfair to the people of Baltimore.

[NewMarketSean]

Not much and what he did accomplish he pretty much lucked into.

[Mackus]

I think he was vital to our playoff appearances. 

 

I think he's done a bad job in many respects, but I don't think we make the playoffs any year besides perhaps 2016 without the really strong performances we got from guys that Duquette was able to bring in for nearly nothing.

 

I won't miss him when he's gone, but he definitely made unique contributions to our return to relevancy that I don't think any other GM would have easily been able to give us.  MacPhail also.  We needed the contributions from both GMs or we would have remained irrelevant, IMO.

[SportsGuy]

He fell into some acquisitions and got lucky with guys like Pearce.

 

He hasn't done a bad job considering his owner but he isn't good and certainly has been terrible in many aspects, including what he is trading the Intl money for.

 

I personally can't wait for him to be gone.

[clapdiddy]

He fell into some acquisitions and got lucky with guys like Pearce.

 

He hasn't done a bad job considering his owner but he isn't good and certainly has been terrible in many aspects, including what he is trading the Intl money for.

 

I personally can't wait for him to be gone.

 

Agree with all of this.   I just worry about who his successor is going to be.

[NewMarketSean]

Agree with all of this.   I just worry about who his successor is going to be.

Brady.

[You Play to Win the Game]

It sucks for whoever has to take over. Duq has been good for a team that has fancied themselves contenders these past several years. But it's come at the expense of any kind of long term organizational development whatsoever. The cupboards are bare, and there's not a lot to work with here soon. Going to be another brutal stretch coming, unless they hit a home run and PGA lets the next guy work.

[clapdiddy]

Brady.

 

I wish we would look at another organization for a new GM.  I'm guessing not many people want to work for Angelos, though.

[clapdiddy]

It sucks for whoever has to take over. Duq has been good for a team that has fancied themselves contenders these past several years. But it's come at the expense of any kind of long term organizational development whatsoever. The cupboards are bare, and there's not a lot to work with here soon. Going to be another brutal stretch coming, unless they hit a home run and PGA lets the next guy work.

 

I do think we have some minor league talent.   Much more, I think, than when DD took over.  The problem is that I can see DD using some of this talent to buy a #4 starter this season.    

[JTrea81]

1 AL East title, 2 Wild Card berths and ending 14 losing seasons but if that isn't enough:

 

1. Duquette was the GM that finally realized the Orioles suck at developing pitchers and he couldn't do anything about it, so he was going outside the organization to fill the rotation after The Calvary failed.

 

2. He brought in Rick Peterson to fix Chris Tillman when he was a mess.  Tillman was the Orioles' ace for several years.

 

3. His scouts knew which players to acquire for short term gains - i.e. McLouth, Pearce, Bourn, De Aza.  Before the Orioles would sign these type of guys to ML contracts for millions (Derrek Lee, Garrett Atkins etc.) and get next to nothing out of them, and Duquette acquired them for peanuts and they overachieved.  Duquette and his team have done that his entire career and continued it in Baltimore.

 

4. He broadened the Orioles scouting going to Korea and Australia with Hyun Soo Kim having success before Buck Showalter decided he didn't like his skill set and now having Alex Wells in the organization as one of the best pitching prospects.

 

5. He hired the best amateur scouting director in the Angelos era in Gary Rajsich who continued to find gems in the draft like Mancini, Sisco, Hays, Mountcastle and Gausman while the Orioles no longer had top picks because they were having success.  Look at all the first round busts under DeMacio and Jordan.  There really hasn't been one under Rajsich yet seeing that Stewart performed much better last season and is back on the radar and Harvey looks to finally be able to continue his promising career.  Those who want Duquette gone need to realize Rajsich likely goes with him and he would be a huge loss.

 

6. Duquette was also not afraid to trade the A ball SP talent he had because he knew IMO that the Orioles would likely never successfully develop them so he got ML talent to augment the team instead so it could win in the present.  It really goes back to #1.  He knew the team's weakness and knew how to win in spite of it.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Trea making some very good points.

[RichardZ]

It's easy to sit back and bash Duquette and I have not been happy with a lot of his moves.   However, his entire resume has to be take with a grain of salt when we know the owner he works for and we aren't even sure where Duquette is in the pecking order.    I saw someone write that Showalter probably has veto power on many of Duquettes moves and of course, Angelos as well.    Any major move that Duquette has made has probably been rubber stamped by Buck.   

 

And we have no idea how many signings (Davis, Trumbo, Hardy, O'Day, etc.) were dictated to him by ownership or out of his hands.   Duquette has the MO of not being a warm and fuzzy GM so when you get the "he's our guy" signings like Davis and O'Day, you have to wonder.

 

He's made a lot of nice small moves and he did hire Rajisch and you have to give him credit with an improved farm system and let's remember that most of his picks, except for Gausman, were way down in the draft.

 

His trade for Parra was awful.   His free agent pitcher signings (Jimenez & Gallardo) were both awful.    It's a mixed bag but he's certainly not the worst and we don't know (maybe we do) what he has to go through being the GM of the Orioles.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Whatever your opinion, he brought us into the modern world of analytics and baseball economics. Whereas sweater vest didn't bother to even have a database, analytic software or know how to spell UZR. So, he basically started from scratch. From revamping and modernizing the crony scouting department to implementing off-season physical training regiments and hiring a sports psychologist, I think he did a lot that goes un-noticed and/or dismissed.  He was only slightly behind Tampa in implementing the shift strategies that were almost certainly significant factors in our early success the first few years. Less so now, that every team has adapted it to at leas some extent. 

 

I don't think the BP leveraging (another significant factor imo) was a fluke they fell into ether. Neither was a power strategy probably  favoring some marginal home park/league advantage. Perhaps both offering some cost-benefit over the higher cost of SP and/or OBP. Then again, those strategies are not without risk either. 

 

I think the roster depth and management was also at least marginally impactful and underrated. Maybe other teams do just as well (not sure I see it with too many teams) and are as creative with the roster but we certainly weren't prior to Duquette coming here. I can remember him getting blasted for mistreating Chen by optioning him one or two times. Typically to give him rest and/or miss a team that wasn't a good match-up for him and to bring in a spot starter. Chen should be thankful to us. Just little stuff like that that you'd see throughout the course of the year. A lot less last year for sure. 

 

I'm not going to get into the issues with the owner and Buck. I have said enough in the past. Lets just say I consider BOTH to be obstacles with ownership being that larger hurdle. 

 

Some of the trades and Free agent signings were bad/poor. Parra stands out. Gallardo, Trumbo 2 and Davis as well. His control over Davis makes me wonder. Hard to imagine he couldn't have vetoed  the others. Then again, I don't know.

 

Some signings / trades worked out, some didn't. Some worked out well for the first year/round then went to crap the second time around.  Guys like DeAza, Hammels, Trumbo, Norris and even Delmon Young come to mind. In some of those cases we should have known better to go to round 2.  A lot of good finds/contributors like Pearce, MGon, Cruz, Chen, Brach, Castillo, Saunders, Mclouth etc. For the most part, and other than the bigger signings like UJ, it was nice that they would move on when something wasn't working. 

 

Biggest disappointment is the failure to develop SP. From what I can tell, Buck and Peterson had a war and Buck won. If the other guy wins, I think the situation is better. That's just my opinion. 

 

I'll concede the approach was incremental and risk averse. Then again, he has a boss and it's a business. Sometimes there is only so much you can do. That he's not expending or convincing ownership to expend huge sum of money or trading valuable prospects for SP this year is not a sign that he's lazy or doesn't care. Just  the opposite imo. He's dong his job. If there really is some consideration to trading Manny, you can bet that impetus is probably from Duquette. 2018 will likely suck, but the organization will be in pretty decent shape with talent and financial flexibility to move forward in the not too distant future with good management. 

 

It'll be interesting to see the difference in how Duquette acts and performs in a new organization in the coming years. I do think he will get a job. Barring a change in ownership and a very good GM with more autonomy coming in to the organization, I think some of you may miss him. 

[BSLSteveBirrer]

So if Duquette has really been so good but so hamstrung in what he can do by ownerhsip, I have two simple questions.

 

1. Why was he out of baseball for so long?

 

2. If his is so good certainly his skills would be in demand so why did he not just quit and go someplace else?

[CA-ORIOLE]

So if Duquette has really been so good but so hamstrung in what he can do by ownerhsip, I have two simple questions.

 

1. Why was he out of baseball for so long?

 

2. If his is so good certainly his skills would be in demand so why did he not just quit and go someplace else?

Well, as to number 2, the owner wouldn't let him leave for a better job/position and held him to his contract. As to his current skills and marketability, we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out for him this time. Not like we're talking about a lot of open MLB GM/OPS jobs every year, but I suspect he'll find a job.    

[DJ MC]

Well, as to number 2, the owner wouldn't let him leave for a better job/position and held him to his contract.

 

It's like asking, "If Machado is such a great player, why hasn't he tried his hand on the free-agent market yet?"

[bnickle]

Probably would've made the playoffs in '13 and possibly won the WS with AM. I mean he chose to move on so it is what it is but his replacement has been butt.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

It's like asking, "If Machado is such a great player, why hasn't he tried his hand on the free-agent market yet?"

Do you seriously think thats an apples to apples point? 

 

Certainly Duquette has done some good things. However, I will NEVER be a fan of his. For two off seasons he said his priority was to sign one if not two middle rotation starters. He signed none. And now look where we are. "Going for it in 2018" with two MLB starters on the roster. One of which is still an injury risk in Bundy and one who can't seem to pitch with any consistency for an entire season. This mess is on him. Period.

 

And yes if I was the GM and had to make all the dumb moves because the owner dictated it I would have just quit. Goodbye. End of story.

[DJ MC]

Do you seriously think thats an apples to apples point?

Since both are under contract with the Orioles and thus unable to move along without the consent of their employer, yes, I do think it's pretty much an exact comparison.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Since both are under contract with the Orioles and thus unable to move along without the consent of their employer, yes, I do think it's pretty much an exact comparison.

Yeah, definitely not apples to oranges. Kinda like a Mcintosh apple and a Honey crisp apple..