Dan Duquette

In my first meeting with Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette back in January, he talked about appreciating Baltimore's rich baseball history and realizing that fans in this city were hungry for a winner. He talked about learning from the legendary Harry Dalton, who built the Orioles' dynasty teams from 1966 to '71. Duquette's first major league job was working under Dalton in Milwaukee. So Duquette could appreciate the excitement of Sunday's first postseason game in Baltimore in 15 years.

Reality didn't set in for Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman that he was heading to the major leagues until the moment he boarded his connection flight to Baltimore on Wednesday morning. "Then, I just kinda was thinking, you know, 'Wow, I'm really here. It's crazy,'" Gausman said. "I wish I had hugged this guy or said thanks and stuff like that, but it didn't really hit me until [then]. " After just 14 starts in the minor leagues, the 22-year-old Gausman arrived at Camden Yards on Wednesday afternoon, getting plenty of handshakes, high-fives and hugs from his new teammates in the Orioles clubhouse.

Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette talked about various subjects today, including the claim of Milwaukee Brewers 25-year-old infielder Zelous Wheeler and the designation for assignment of lefty Dana Eveland. This is just a sense, but I think Duquette believes he can deal Eveland if the Orioles don't think he can get through waivers. It's hard to imagine the Orioles releasing Eveland, so he'll end up at Norfolk if he clears - Eveland said that likely would be his inclination as well.

If you believe that the Orioles' unexpected run to the postseason in 2012 was something of magic, then the most dazzling trick the organization pulled off was consistently pulling productive starters out of their sleeves. Executive vice president Dan Duquette, who had been out of baseball for a decade, stockpiled pitchers in his first offseason with the Orioles, adding to the group of now-not-so-young arms compiled by his processor, Andy MacPhail, then practically running a shuttle that shuffled players from Norfolk and Bowie to Camden Yards.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Dan Duquette, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, took some time away from the organization's affiliates' reception to talk to reporters tonight at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The winter meetings don't start in earnest until Monday. Here are some of his quotes on specific Orioles' topics. Duquette on the club's goal this week at the annual winter meetings: “Our agenda at the winter meetings, of course, is to try to find a hitter.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the club tried to find a way to figure Mark Reynolds' impending 2013 salary into its budget, but couldn't. So instead of paying him roughly $9 million in arbitration, the Orioles did not tender the first baseman a contract Friday night, allowing him to be a free agent. "We had determined that his value in arbitration was beyond our resources to bring him back to the team," Duquette said. "We like Mark and he gave a good effort for the team, so we certainly appreciated that.

When Dan Duquette was hired roughly a year ago as the club's executive vice president, the Orioles pointed to his impressive track record in the past with the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox. He was in charge of some very good teams - although none went to the World Series. Of course, the Expos in 1994 might have had the season not ended in August due to labor unrest. And Duquette was one of the primary architects of the Red Sox team that twice won world championships after he left.

Earlier this morning, we featured a chart from baseball statistician Bill Arnold that listed Orioles' executive vice president Dan Duquette's lifetime record at an impressive 930-786. That winning percentage places him fifth among the men who held the general manager position (or similar duties) for the 30 MLB teams in 2012. Pretty impressive. Frankly, it was better than I realized. But if you dig a little deeper, the numbers could be even more eye-popping. Duquette left Montreal and joined the Boston Red Sox in February 1994.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Before Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball" hit the best sellers list and before Brad Pitt brought Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane to the big screen in the Academy Award-nominated film of the same name, the concept of building a small-market club through shrewd acquisitions, farm system strengthening and an obsession with on-base percentage had already been featured north of the border. Arguably, the first incarnation of the Moneyball concept occurred in Montreal in the early 1990s.

The opening scene of the movie "Moneyball" is a grainy close-up of Johnny Damon batting for the Oakland Athletics. Damon becomes the movie's pivotal point, a primary example of a player paid more than stats say he is worth. That surprised Loyola University Maryland economics professor Stephen Walters. He used the sort of advanced statistical analysis championed by the film and the book that inspired it to advise then-Boston Red Sox general manager, Dan Duquette, that signing Damon in fact made a great deal of financial sense.

In today's Baltimore Sun, I wrote a story on the Orioles' efforts to convert minor league pitchers Zach Clark and Eddie Gamboa into knuckleballers. Clark and Gamboa are working with Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro, who won 318 games and revolutionized the knuckleball, while both pitchers are at Double-A Bowie. In speaking with the 74-year-old Niekro this week, you can tell he's still very passionate in teaching the knuckleball to young pitchers. He realizes that, in some ways, it can make a difference in helping a pitcher break into the majors.

When right-hander Zach Clark was summoned to Orioles manager Buck Showalter's office two weeks ago and told he was being designated for assignment, the conversation suddenly veered off in a peculiar direction. Clark, who at that moment was still digesting the end of his brief four-day stint in the majors after parts of eight years in the minor, said Showalter abruptly began talking about reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey, who turned his career around after transitioning into a knuckleball pitcher.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Before Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball" hit the best sellers list and before Brad Pitt brought Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane to the big screen in the Academy Award-nominated film of the same name, the concept of building a small-market club through shrewd acquisitions, farm system strengthening and an obsession with on-base percentage had already been featured north of the border. Arguably, the first incarnation of the Moneyball concept occurred in Montreal in the early 1990s.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the team was “more comfortable” signing right-hander Jair Jurrjens to a minor league deal than a major league one after closely vetting the results of a physical on his right knee. “There's some safeguards for the player in there, as well,” Duquette told reporters during Saturday's first full-squad workout, which Jurrjens participated in fully. “At least we have a chance to work together and see if we can help him be a good big league pitcher.

The Orioles agreed to terms with catcher Matt Wieters on a one-year $5.5 million deal Friday, avoiding arbitration in Wieters' first year of eligibility. But Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the organization would like to pursue the possibility of signing Wieters to a long-term deal. Now that the Orioles signed center fielder Adam Jones to a six-year, $85-million extension last season and extended both Duquette and manager Buck Showalter through 2018, the organization's next step to locking up its cornerstones would likely be signing Wieters, who becomes a free agent after the 2015 season, to a long-term deal.

The Orioles didn't return to Baltimore from the winter meetings with the power bat they coveted, but club executive vice president Dan Duquette was satisfied with the team's progress this week in Nashville, Tenn. One of the team's top priorities was to sign an outfielder, and the Orioles were able to agree to terms with left fielder Nate McLouth on Wednesday. In Thursday's Rule 5 draft, the team selected 23-year-old left-hander T.J. McFarland. “I'm glad we signed an outfielder,” Duquette told reporters Thursday morning following the Rule 5 draft.

As you settle down to watch an American League Championship Series without the Orioles and you wonder whether the O's will ever go after a bona fide ace pitcher among the likes of CC Sabathia or Justin Verlander, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette has some news for you. The Orioles, who came within one win of playing in the ALCS, are going to continue to build from within. “I've said all along the way to build a good ballclub is from the ground up,” Duquette told reporters Saturday at Camden Yards.

When right-hander Zach Clark was summoned to Orioles manager Buck Showalter's office two weeks ago and told he was being designated for assignment, the conversation suddenly veered off in a peculiar direction. Clark, who at that moment was still digesting the end of his brief four-day stint in the majors after parts of eight years in the minor, said Showalter abruptly began talking about reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey, who turned his career around after transitioning into a knuckleball pitcher.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Dan Duquette, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, took some time away from the organization's affiliates' reception to talk to reporters tonight at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. The winter meetings don't start in earnest until Monday. Here are some of his quotes on specific Orioles' topics. Duquette on the club's goal this week at the annual winter meetings: “Our agenda at the winter meetings, of course, is to try to find a hitter.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the club tried to find a way to figure Mark Reynolds' impending 2013 salary into its budget, but couldn't. So instead of paying him roughly $9 million in arbitration, the Orioles did not tender the first baseman a contract Friday night, allowing him to be a free agent. "We had determined that his value in arbitration was beyond our resources to bring him back to the team," Duquette said. "We like Mark and he gave a good effort for the team, so we certainly appreciated that.