totally a tldr but read here it is:
http://entoriole.***/2012/01/dan-duquette-silently-building-strong.htmlQuote
Dan Duquette: Silently Building Strong Depth?
I think most people would tend to agree that Dan Duquette was probably not the Orioles first choice to inherit their GM role after Andy MacPhail. Heck, he may not of been their second, third, or fourth choice either. As it stands though, Duquette fell into the Orioles role of GM.
Duquette is known to be one of the smartest minds in baseball. From his time with the Expos, to his time with Boston, he has unearthed and developed numerous amounts of stars. However, he also had not been in baseball for nearly a decade when he was signed by the Orioles. Some argued that he would be rusty and it may take time for him to fully catch up to the other GM's in baseball that had been there for the past decade. But as of 1/9/2012, I don't know if I could believe that argument anymore.
The best thing Duquette has done may be the talented minds that he has brought into the organization. It all started when he brought in Gary Rajsich to be the amateur scouting director. He then followed this by bringing in Lee Thomas to be his special assistant. Later he then brought in Danny Haas to be a national cross-checker. Finally, Duquette brought in former pitching coach Rick Peterson as a "pitching guru" and Chris Correnti as a a rehab coordinator. These moves may seem small from the outside, but they are big steps in the right direction for the Orioles in a development and talent-tracking aspect. There are also rumors that he has legendary international scout Ray Poitevint helping out the cause in the international market. This could very well tell us why Duquette has been so active in Asia.
Duquette has made plenty of player moves this off-season as well. One could argue that none of the moves he has made are truly "impact" moves, however they provide the Orioles' with depth that they clearly lacked last season. It has been fairly obvious that Duquette came into this off-season with starting pitching, backup catcher, and potentially another infielder as his biggest wants and needs. He traded for his backup catcher in Taylor Teagarden. He has signed Asian pitchers' Wei-Yin Chen and Tsuyoshi Wada, and brought in Dana Eveland through another trade. While some would argue that Teagarden and Eveland are probably not anything other than depth moves, they still could potentially add depth to areas where the Orioles severely lacked last season. Another argument against those moves could be that they gave up two legitimate relief prospects in Randy Henry and Jarrett Martin, but we honestly cannot make an accurate judgment on that because they are simply too far away from the majors at this point. Wada and Chen may or may not be the top-tier pitchers the Orioles need, but they could provide innings and half-decent numbers for the Orioles while they wait on their young pitchers to either develop or grab a spot on the 25-man roster. The Orioles also brought in Matt Antonelli and drafted Ryan Flaherty in the Rule 5 Draft. Both will provide some depth and insurance around the diamond.
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