Baltimore Orioles: Dan Duquette – Love Him or Hate Him

Aug 20, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; A rainbow crest over the stadium as the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Minnesota Twins is delayed due to inclement weather at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette has one of those difficult leadership positions where he will always be loved and hated by a certain percentage of the public.

One of the more prominent political talk show hosts on television last evening ended his program with a series of emails from the viewing public. They alternated between three positives and three negatives. One set said that he was obviously totally in the tank for Donald Trump, whereas the other three took him apart verbally for the mean-spirited and hateful way he obviously attempts to thwart the campaign of the Trumpster. The host simply looked at the camera, laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

Having always had a career that is very much in the public eye, along with long-time stints as a high school coach and political activist, I have very often had the same schizophrenic feeling about how I am perceived. It is the nature of leadership; and no matter how good you are, there is always going to be a percentage of people who think you are a total loser. Even when things go well, the critics will say that it was only because you inherited the success of your predecessor or that you happened upon the situation at the perfect time with the perfect storm … you were just lucky.

I am probably neither a huge fan of Duquette nor a severe critic. Some of his moves and non-moves are certainly curious. Yet at the same time, I know from my own leadership career that there are almost always issues and circumstances behind the scenes, totally unknown and unseen by the public (and also of a nature you cannot openly discuss) that completely cast decisions into a very different light. You can’t reveal the whole story, so all you can do is put the best face upon things and endure the public derision.

No general manager bats 1.000 on decisions and moves that are made. Duquette is neither a genius for the 2014 season of Steve Pearce, nor a fool for what happened in 2015. It is not his fault that Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez did not perform at historic levels. Wei-Yin Chen was a great move at a great cost, while Tsuyoshi Wada was supposed at the front door to be the smarter signing.

Without doubt, as it turned out, the Orioles would have been much better in 2015 with Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis. Will that still look as good in 2017 and 2018?  And if they had been signed, there would have been no chance for even an offer to be extended to Chris Davis for Boras to reject. Could O’Day have been signed? Maybe yes, maybe no; but the landscape would look entirely different than it does at the moment.

Fans often seem to forget just how honestly horrible a majority of expensive long-term free agent contracts turn out to be for teams. Bigger market and deeper-pocketed teams like the Yankees and Dodgers can absorb bad decisions in a way that the Orioles cannot. A huge contract gone awry becomes an albatross that hangs around the neck of a mid-market franchise, stinking it up with its rotting flesh for years. The O’s simply cannot tolerate a deal any worse than the Ubaldo Jimenez mixed bag of results.

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The Orioles have gotten the offseason going with a number of signings that demonstrate effort and desire to address multiple needs. Darren O’Day was probably too much to hope for, but he is staying. Mark Trumbo looks to be a good deal for what he is likely to bring, and this Hyun-soo Kim may prove to be the next sort of Wei-Yin Chen bang-for-the-buck bargain. Vance Worley and L.J. Hoes might prove more beneficial than imagined. And there is more money that is promised to be spent on other upgrades and vacancies.

There is yet a lot to be written about this offseason. Enough has gone wrong over the years to understandably fuel negative speculations and fears, yet enough has also gone well and has the potential to go very, very well that DD is not worthy of the worst derision that is thrown his direction. Leadership is difficult. That is why there are so few leaders and so many followers in the world.

Next: Will Hyun-Soo Kim find success in American baseball?

It is supposed to be mild over the Christmas break, even into the low 70s on one day. But after that you should have an extra supply of logs to throw into the stove to heat it and carry you through the rest of the offseason chill.