Dan Duquette It Is

Say hello to your new GM (President of Baseball Operations???) Baltimore.  Granted, it's not official yet and we've been here before just a few days ago.  However, this seems like a done deal so let's take a good look at who and what we're getting in Mr. Duquette.

To start off, I should mention that I didn't even consider Duquette a possibility for the job for my last post, as he has been out of professional baseball as a GM or equivalent since 2002.  However, the Angles interviewed him before settling on Jerry DiPoto for the job.  Duquette was the last GM for the Boston Red Sox, and was let go after 2002 when new ownership wanted to go in a new direction.

So Who Is He?
Duquette got into the game in 1980 as a scouting assistant for the Brewers.  Obviously it's hard to tell exactly what players Duquette scouted, but it should be mentioned that Milwaukee had success in drafting and developing several top-notch prospects such as Gary Sheffield and BJ Surhoff.

In 1987 Duquette moved to the Montreal Expos front office as the Director of Player Development.  It took only 4 years for him to move up to GM, being named the replacement to current Tigers' President of Baseball Operations Dave  Dombrowski.

However just a few years later Duquette would leave Montreal to become the General Manager of the Red Sox, and was instrumental in their turn around and development into the team that would 'break the curse'.  He was not given the opportunity to see it through as new ownership relieved him in favor of Theo Epstein.

During his time in Boston, the Red Sox acquired Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and Johnny Damon.  This group represented part of the core of the 'new Red Sox' as I like to call them that emerged after the turn of the century.

Over his time as a team executive, Duquette was named 'Executive of the Year twice (albeit by different groups), once with the Expos and once with the Sox.

Since 2002 Duquette helped found the Israel Baseball League and also founded the Dan Duquette Sports Academy for youths.  These endeavors merit posts in themselves, but aren't as relevant to the O's future as his tenure in Boston and Montreal.

Should I Be Excited?
I think so.  Duquette is known for two things around baseball it seems.  1. Trading for Pedro Martinez twice and 2. being an incredibly smart front office guy.  He has a background in player development from his time with the Expos and is said to be well connected in both Asia and Latin America.  This seems to be a perfect fit as those three areas are places where the Orioles could stand to substantially grow.  Ultimately, Duquette never shied away from spending money (which the O's do seem to have to spend) but has done so with a pretty good record in terms of ROI.

I know some fans are upset that he's been out of the game so long, but I'm not sure that criticism is warranted.  For Duquette, there was no need to rush back to baseball as he's been incredibly successful with his other projects.  Also Duquette is said to be very analytical, something that transcends time and changes in the game.  I'm not worried that he's going to be rusty or unsure of how to work in baseball today and neither should you.

At the end of the day, Duquette is a solid hire by the Orioles.  We could have done much much worse, and I think that he'll do a fine job helping to return this franchise to glory.  Obviously, it's difficult to predict the future, and nobody knows the circumstances that will unfold in the next few years.  However, I think this is a solid hire, and there is reason for optimism in Baltimore.

Life After LaCava

So Tony LaCava turned down the Orioles' offer to be their next GM, and the decision has been met with much discussion both inside and outside the O's fanbase.  Fans want to know why this happened and how someone could turn down a GM job when only 30 exist in the world.  Many fans are blaming various members of the Orioles ownership and management team, and perhaps rightly so.

However, the more pertinent question, at least for today is:  What next?

This obviously places the O's pretty firmly behind the 8-ball as they just over 12 hours until Free Agency starts, and nobody running the show.  As a result, a few questions about the process are important, and I'll try to address them as completely as possible.  That said, there's nothing concrete here anymore, and the entire scenario could change in the next 4, 8, 12 or 24 hours.

Question 1: Does De Jon Watson get offered the job now?

Maybe?!?!  The O's interviewed 4 candidates: Jerry DiPoto, Tony LaCava, De JonWatson and John Stockstill.  Obviously DiPoto and LaCava (who seemed to be the front-runners all along) are out of it.  That leaves Watson and Stockstill.  I think Watson has as good a shot at the job as anyone, but I also believe the O's will interview at least 2 more candidates before making a decision.

Question 2: Who will the Orioles interview then?

In my view, there are 3 potential interviews the O's can have.  I think they do 2 of the 3, and the 3 candidates are: Matt Klentak, AJ Preller and Thad Levine.

Question 3: So who are these new candidates?


Klentak, much like Stockstill is already in the organization and is undoubtedly familiar with the way the Orioles run their front office.  Unfortunately, this might be the biggest obstacle to Klentak to becoming the GM (or President of Baseball Operations) as many have speculated that the O's want to bring in an outsider with new viewpoints and opinions.

AJ Preller is a senior adviser to Jon Daniels in Texas and as such has been a critical part of building the back-to-back AL Champs.  Preller seems to be a jack of all trades, as he advises Daniels on personnel movement. Preller also specializes in scouting, and has worked with the various scouting departments for the Rangers.  Preller definitely brings a great pedigree to the job, but does not currently work in player development which seems to be a preference for the Orioles.

Thad Levine (pictured below) is my personal favorite of those remaining.  Levine grew up in Virginia and is an admitted O's fan.  Some say this makes him perfect for the job, but I'm not sure that has any relevance.  However, Levine does have a background and a wealth of experience that would be incredibly beneficial to the Orioles.  Having come up through the Rockies Front Office before joining the Rangers, Levine has years of experience evaluating the operations on both the minor league and major league levels.  Levine has worked very closely with GM Jon Daniels in Texas to build the current big league roster, but has also worked with the scouting and negotiating processes the club has taken.

Will Any of these potential GM candidates be the next General Manager for the Baltimore Orioles?  It's a difficult question, and one we hopefully will get an answer to in the next week.  That said, the only thing this process has shown is that it is not predictable.  Come next Monday, this post could be seen a prophetic ... or ... completely off-base.  Time will tell.