Dan Duquette Could be Santa or Scrooge this Christmas

Dec 9, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter speaks with the media during the MLB winter meetings at Gaylord Opryland Resort . Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles are done with the Winter Meetings, done with Fanfest, and possibly done with the courtship of Chris Davis.

What now remains is to figure out what moves are next.

Dan Duquette made it clear at the Orioles’ Fanfest on Saturday that the team hopes to have a lot of the roster in place by Christmas. In case you were confused by the weather outside, Christmas is only 11 days away.

So, that doesn’t leave much time for the Orioles. So, where is the market, and where are the Orioles?

As far as first base goes, it appears the Orioles have four main options. One is Chris Davis, although it doesn’t appear he is signing anytime soon. Another is signing another Scott Boras agent, Pedro Alvarez.

A third option is Steve Pearce, who remains a free agent. Many thought the O’s had no interest in bringing back Pearce, but he was mentioned frequently on Saturday.

The final option is internal. There is Mark Trumbo, Trey Mancini, Christian Walker. All could be the O’s first baseman in 2016 if the team takes their money elsewhere.

As for the outfield market, Jason Heyward is gone. Yoenis Cespedes is still a free agent, but the team doesn’t seem to have a lot of interest there.

The team seems to be targeting either Justin Upton, who appears to be the team’s second target behind Davis, or Alex Gordon. Gordon is the left-handed hitter the team needs.

Finally, we look at starting pitching. Johnny Cueto is now off the market, as is Greinke, Zimmermann, Price, Happ, Chris Young and numerous others. Left on the market is Wei-Yin Chen, who I don’t think is coming back at any cost.

Also still free agents are Scott Kazmir, Mike Leake, Yovani Gallardo, Doug Fister, and more. Leake has been linked to the Nationals, Kazmir to the Royals, among others.

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The O’s seem to be one of the leaders in the race for Gallardo, but it appears the O’s may want to settle their lineup a little more before turning to pitching.

I am of the opinion that Dan Duquette has had a very good offseason, making the right moves so far. However, I am also worried that Duquette may wait too long, and the O’s may be in a position where they are stuck.

Hopefully, Santa Dan has lots of gifts wrapped in black and orange for Oriole fans. Otherwise, he may end up leaving Oriole fans feeling like Scrooge.