Jim Duquette

Poll results Last week we asked which former Oriole from the past five years would you like to see back with the team? More than 2,400 people responded, and New York Mets pitcher John Maine, traded two offseasons ago with Jorge Julio for Kris Benson, won in a landslide with nearly 65 percent of the vote. Former slugger Sammy Sosa, now with the Texas Rangers, received just 3 percent. The results: John Maine, 64.2 percent (1,566 votes) Gary Matthews Jr., 12 (292 votes) Eric Byrnes, 11.5 (281 votes)

After working in the New York Mets' front office for 14 years, Jim Duquette, 40, was named the Orioles' vice president for baseball operations on Oct. 20, 2005. On June 12, 2003, he was named the Mets' interim general manager; the interim tag was removed a little more than four months later. Duquette oversaw the development of current Mets stars Jose Reyes and David Wright, but also drew criticism for trading prospect Scott Kazmir, now one of the best young pitchers in the game. What is the most misunderstood part of being a baseball executive?

It's a staple of sports talk radio - a club official comes on the air, and fans get to call in and ask questions. But, as WBAL (1090 AM) host Steve Davis has learned this week, it's not working that way with the Orioles since spring training has begun. As Davis posted at the station's Web site yesterday, the club has instituted a policy prohibiting members of team management - such as vice president Jim Duquette or manager Sam Perlozzo - from taking callers' questions when they appear on his nightly talk show.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.-- --At first glance, he's your average, fresh-faced, fresh-out-of-college type with an earnest attitude. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, like him mulling around the hotel lobby here at baseball's winter meetings - all of them looking to snag the handshake of a big league executive in hopes it eventually will turn into a job. Look deeper into this 23-year-old's face, though, and there is something familiar. It's still framed by brown curly hair, but now he has a goatee and a sturdier jawline.

The offseason is off to a pretty good start for the Orioles, for what that's worth. The Boston Red Sox apparently have lost boy wonder general manager Theo Epstein - an unmistakable blow to one of the Orioles' chief rivals. Former Orioles GM Pat Gillick - the best in the business, in my opinion - was looking for a job but didn't sign with the Red Sox or New York Yankees, instead taking on the task of turning the Philadelphia Phillies into a playoff team. (He will.) The Los Angeles Dodgers first fired their manager and then fired their general manager in the middle of his search for a new manager, proving that the Orioles, even after eight straight losing seasons, don't own the copyright on organizational dysfunction.

Jim Duquette was hired yesterday as Orioles vice president for baseball operations to assist executive vice president Mike Flanagan. He will help Flanagan and the rest of the front office with contract negotiations, salary arbitration and personnel decisions. That's something the Orioles want to make clear. "It's not a co-GM situation," Flanagan said. Still, the addition of Duquette, a well-respected executive with general manager's experience, prompted the obvious questions about the structure of the Orioles' new-look front office.