Diner Question: Should Dan Duquette continue as Orioles’ top baseball man?

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• I've personally always been in D.D.'s corner. So why change now? (Oh that's right, we're in total rebuild mode)

  I've always felt that the Angelos family has tied Mr. Duquettes hands by personally meddling along with allowing other upper management (B.Anderson) too much influence on personnel & payroll. Considering those factors, I've felt he's done about as well as anybody could expect and would love to see the O's hand him the reigns outright. I feel that another 3 to 5 year contract for DD would be in order.

  • I feel exactly as Boog does. Sign me up as an "attaboy" on his astute comments.

    As for Buck its more complicated. Maybe a younger manager may be more attuned to the players.

    • Boss, I can see that Dan has his fair share of supporters, and I know he will appreciate you seconding the comments.

      • Is this your way of trying to get rid of DD Dumbroff. If you and the other reporters knew everything you think you know, you would be making millions like real GM's.

  • I third what Boog Robinson Squared says. Based on everything I'm reading, other GMs are noting a more focused O's approach and that to me is a good sign. Also, DD has a pretty good track record when he is allowed to do his thing minus interference. Oh, and there's that giant anchor named Crush that was hung around his neck against his will too...

    • JCO, you make several interesting points.

  • The team's talent collapsed under Dan, so he should get the opportunity to rebuild? The O's outperformed their Pecota rating every year thru 2016 under Buck. Obviously baseball insiders think Buck outperformed his talent.

    And do you really think Peter Angelos told Dan to saddle Buck with Rule 5 guys every year.

    The deal with Atlanta was a joke. I follow the Braves as well as the O's. NONE of the guys we got from them were EVER discussed as top prospects. Dan is following the Syd Thrift theory
    of picking up lots of mediocre prospects and hoping some work out.

    • When ownership hinders the GM and doesn't give him all the tools needed then the GM needs to find the best way he can to build a club. So yes Angelos did saddle Buck with the rule 5 players.
      The deal with Atlanta was about saving salary. DD needed to cut salary on the current team so it can be invested in the international area as well as scouts and more front office staff. We didn't get a check from Atlanta for 2.5M. We got their slot that allows us to use an additional 2.5M on international signings.

      • Our payroll will be $50 MILLION lower in 2019. Do you REALLY think all that$ is going into scouting and intl players? How about most into the owner's pockets.

    • There are a number of fans, VICTORTEE, who compare these trades to the great purge of 2000.

  • I think Dan might like that idea, Boog.

  • Let’s keep in mind that Gausmen was not much more than slightly below average.

  • DD trades and choice of pitchers have been horrible thus far. He negotiated against himself on Davis and Trumbo.
    Buck has been amazing, given what the "office" has given him to work with.
    I cannot fathom how any real Orioles fan older than 16 could support DD, BA, and/ PA.

• Somebody has to be held accountable for the product the organization puts on the field. The Orioles had some success since 2012, but I would hardly call them a top tier organization in baseball. There is no excuse for ignoring the international market all these years. Trying to make a roster of rule 5 picks just doesn’t work. He was always trying to build a bargain baseball team.

  You can lay part of the blame on the owner. But we can’t fire the owner. Just like we needed to do this radical rebuild on the field, we need to do a radical rebuild behind the scenes. Scouts, player development folks, and GM’s included.

  • It was PA who halted international scouting. He looked at scouting as an expensive habit. You sir, are dead wrong.

  • John, I think you speak for a lot of fans, and maybe I'll run into you in a couple of weeks when I visit the Delaware beaches.

• I pretty much agree with Boog. I would suggest a 2-3 year contract. I want to see some results from the rebuild.
  You don't fire the GM if the problem is the owner. DD has done it before and he will do a good job in the international area. One of the first hires he made was an international scout that he had worked with before.

  • DJ, I think it will be fascinating to see what happens between now and the end of the season.

• Absolutely he should stay and not only should he stay, but the Orioles should promote him to President of Baseball Operations and let him pick his own GM who will pick Showalter's replacement and carry out Duquette's vision for the organization. Then you have a setup similar to most successful organizations where the front office and field manager are on the same page. Duquette built two powerhouse teams in Montreal and Boston and retooled the Orioles to be competitive, ending 14 years of losing. There's no reason with him assuming full control of baseball operations, that he couldn't rebuild the Orioles into a perennial contender and eventual World Series winner.

  • jtrea81: I couldn't agree more. A couple of months ago, we all were preaching that DD should go. But as the days wore on, more and more evidence came to fruition that a lot of the decisions made in the past few years weren't Dan's decisions (i.e. Chris Davis' contract and the lack of participation in the international market).
    Now it looks like the reins have been removed from DD and we can see that he is not afraid to make changes and they are his decisions. Kudos to Dan and media outlets like BaltimoreBaseball.com for enlightening the fans as to what has been going on behind the scenes for several years.

    • SpinMaster, I like your way of thinking--at least about BaltimoreBaseball.com.

    • Dan said he was going to get two top pitching prospects for Manny. We have gotten 15 prospects so far. Only ONE is rated a top 100 prospect. None of the pitchers are rated better than a #3 per the "experts" not by me. And none of the guys we got from the Braves were EVER mentioned as significant prospects by the braves.

  • Jtrea81, Dan would certainly like a promotion, but we don't even know if he'll be back with the organization.

• Definitely should stay. When given the true ability to build a team he has been successful. Buck should stay too. Imagine him having a real pitching staff and players that aren’t all or nothing hitters.

  • deqalt, another term of Duquette and Showalter would be fascinating to watch. Let's see if it happens.

• I think he should get a 2 year deal, he deserves the chance to continue to rebuild this team, it seems like he has a plan and he is going at it full force. Plus, he has probably been the best GM we've had since Pat Gillick.

  • DevoTion--Thanks for the comment, and there have been a number of GMs since Pat Gillick!

• I personally think he's earned the chance, but realistically I don't think chances are good that he returns.

  1) The Angelos boys are running the show now and they'll want to put their own mark on the ballclub with who they hire.
  2) Lingering resent due to the Blue Jays situation - could provide enough impetus to not want to return.
  3) Brady Anderson - DD won't return to the club with the same organizational structure that there is now. Something's gotta give, and you can't tell me that Brady isn't the favorite child of the Angelos family, so wherever the chips fall they will likely favor Brady.

  Whether or not I want him to return is moot. I don't think he'll be back next year.

  • Your thoughts are shared by many, Creatively09.

• These last few years Dan had no tools to work with courtesy of Peter Angelos and the results were very subpar. A new direction with the Sons taking charge has apparently blessed him WITH the tools. Given that and his energized approach these last few weeks makes Dan the spearhead he should have been all along. This roster demolition was directed by him so the rebuild is all his. Yes-bring back. For good or bad he has created this so he is entitled to put it all back together. I like his recent boldness and solid direction. Bring him back.

  • Orial, you make some fascinating points here.

• Let’s extend him and Buck 1 year at a time, see if there’s improvement from year to year and go from there. They have had a decent (not great) product on the field that hasn’t produced. Can only field the players they’re afforded to get. Maybe it was a waste of $ on the wrong players. Maybe it was some bad calls in crucial times from the coaches but it’s a lot easier to say sitting on our couches. I just hope they don’t get too gung ho on the int’l market as they had been on the rule 5 guys! I’m excited and ready to be a contender after this rebuild.....

  As Buck would say “I like our NEW guys”

  • WV, how they participate in the international market will be something worth watching.

    • I agree with going in that direction but hope they scout well and do they’re homework because the rule 5 thing they’ve done for last few years hasn’t worked to well....

    • I think it will also be worth watching as to what they do with the players they pick up. Schoop came out of that mmarket and what happens? The Orioles apparently unilaterally decide he won't resign here, and use that as the reason for shipping him off to the Brewers when he should have been the centerpiece of any rebuild with a five year extension. He's 26, younger than Villas and more talented. So if they sign the next Schoop or Machado in the INT market, are they just going to watch them blossom, then trade them before the last year of their contract for three or four prospects? Horrible business model if that's the route they take, and nothing they've done so far suggests it won't be.

• Until about a month ago I would have said there is no way DD is back next year, but what a difference a few weeks make. During the first months of the season Dan seemed like a third wheel, just clocking in and waiting for 5 o clock. Since late June, however, Dan Duquette has been the face of the franchise, with his plan laid out and firmly in command of the front office. I wondering where this new guy came from. My theory is that with Peter's failing health, one of the sons is now steering the ship, and Duquette basically told them 'let me do it my way, and if you like it, fire me'. And that gambit appears to have worked. Rich, your as close to the Organization as anyone in the media, what do you see?

  • Bancells, you make some interesting points, but I'm not sure that I agree with all of them.

• If we're convinced that the issue lied with Peter Angelos, then I see no problem with DD staying on. Frankly, I always did think that the top guy was more involved in the affairs of baseball operations than he needed to be. If the sons are now more in charge and they're going to take off the shackles from Duquette to let him run baseball operations, then I say he's earned the chance. Moreover, since he's the one wheeling and dealing right now, he should not be dismissed to saddle someone with a mess if this goes south. He's, at least in theory, making moves with a plan for the future. I'd say let's let his plan play out for a couple of years and see what the direction of the team looks like.

  • Well, bigdaddydk, I think many of the readers agree with you about Duquette.

• I agree with the comments posted before mine. I agree with Bancells that Dan went to the sons and said listen this is what needs to be done moving forward for this organization to not go through the “dark years” again. He was a leader with a plan and they liked what they heard,, and frankly so do I. Let him do this his way and see what the results are. No it won’t be immediate so he needs at least 3 years to see it through.

  • Interestingly, three years was the original term of his contract, Mr. Jones.

• First, somebody's got to do some splainin' for me. "Orioles' organizational structure"? I hate to use cliches, but oxymoron seems inevitable. And "Orioles' top baseball man" seems like a mystery guest on I've Got a Secret. Yes, recently DD has been the "face" or facade of the team in front of the media, but aren't most of us at least a little skeptical that he's done all this on his own? As for keeping him, to use his own image, why renovate one room at a time? More pointedly, why does he want to stay, or has he just done his recent flurry as a dress rehearsal for another team?

  • You’re a scatter brain I’m afraid

  • There are only 30 of these jobs in baseball, willmiranda, and they're very hard to get. In any business, the best way to get another job is by doing a good job at your present one.

• I think the change in direction to rebuilding the team came from Brady's influence with both Angelos sons. DD appeared to have worked within the strict constraints of Peter's budget and refusal to invest in the international talent pool. This process seems to have ended with emphasis on rebuilding the far system as their first priority. Duquette with a core of young players drafted and players acquired in trades or signings became a playoff contender. In 2014 the Orioles won the AL East but ran into a hot KC team that went onto the WS all the while missing Matt, Davis, and Manny. Overall I think he did a good job while here and hopefully will return next season along with Buck.

  • Grand Strand, your points are well worth considering.

• I think it’s obvious that up to this time, DD has worked with one arm behind his back. By being successful with the trades made I think rebuilding is his forte. Bring both men back.

• No reflection on the current management but a house cleaning includes all floors.

• I think an equally pertinent question is: What role would you like to see Brady Anderson have with the O's next year?

  Clearly a power struggle is no benefit, so I hope that the situation changes and if that means DD goes, then I'm not really against it.

  A number of players think Brady is good for the club. I really have no idea. But the Angelos sons like him, so it doesnt seem like Brady is going anywhere.

• Yes, I'm fine with the Orioles have both Buck and Dan return. Since this column is focusing on Duquette, I'll just say his tenure has been a mixed bag, but I think what moves the needle to me for him continuing is the great return the O's were able to get in the past month, assuming he was the prime mover.

  • One top 100 prospect and no pitcher rated as better than a #3 is a great return?

• DD and Buck are responsible for this sh*t hole of a season and need to be shown the door immediately after game 162 has been completed.

• After reading all 46 comments ( up to now), the one thread that keeps coming up is that the Angelos “boys” are in charge. Does anyone know this as fact? In my business dealings through a 30+ year career, I had two jobs in family run businesses. In each, when the patriarch supposedly retired and the heirs took over, the only thing that changed was we didn’t see the guy around anymore but it was obvious where the direction of the business was coming from. When PA is dead and buried I’ll believe he isn’t the puppeteer.

• I think it is well known that all the bad moves since DD took over in 2012 are not all his but I think he is a big part of them. No doubt there is dysfunction from the top and an almost impossible situation for any GM. Not to take away from DD's good under the radar moves but if you look at the roster and manager he inherited, he walked into a pretty good situation. But my biggest concern is the team he inherited was full of Gold Glovers and guys who play fundamental sound and great defense. This was the soul of all the Os successful teams. This is what the Os use to stand for. In the 6 years since DD got here we have disgustingly become one of the worst defensive teams in baseball. Its embarrassing to watch for those who watched the Os have the best record in baseball for 20 years. I understand players get older but nothing was done to refresh the defense. For the future this is the quickest way to get back to being competitive. Great defense is a must if we want to ever have good pitching. Palmer himself would struggle with this group. DD does not seem to have defense as a priority for the future. He mentioned the OF getting better with Mullins in the future but there are too many holes almost everywhere. And how about at the two most important defensive positions of C and SS. DD even traded for a no defense C from Atlanta. And please don't tell me that in the name of Aparico, Belanger, Ripken, Bordick and Hardy that Beckham is our SS of the future. So I say DD is not the guy if we ever want to be great over long stretches again.

• Step back and think...here we are “rebuilding” by getting young players from the
  Minor leagues of the Major league teams with whom we traded with.
  Yet, we have our minors...with very little talent for the future...why? The management of the O’s is responsible..as well as the owners.
  This must mean the O’s have poor scouts, poor minor league Managers & coaches.
  To me ,that is the responsibility of the GM and the Major League Manager,
  I think it is time to get new management throughout the organization...to rebuild our
  Baseball excellence.

  • Well said..The Os use to be the example of things done right. The Oriole Way. For an example, how does a fast guy not know how to steal bases or bunt. I see it all the time. Mind boggling. Or any player not knowing how to bunt. Just simple things. I believe we should have a GM that demands to draft /acquire the right players, not the highest scout score and to teach them the right way.

• Another year of this general manager? Has no one noticed that he has 7 teams for which he is responsible and 6 are in last place! And the contacts signed so we couldn’t even keep one of our stars except Bundy who will probably be lost as well! Give me a break!