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LaCava Turns Down Orioles’ Offer

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The Orioles offered Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava their general manager job and he turned the position down, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Instead, LaCava will remain Toronto's assistant GM and Baltimore will resume its search for Andy MacPhail's replacement.

The Orioles also interviewed director of player development John Stockstill and Dodgers assistant GM De Jon Watson for the job. Angels GM Jerry Dipoto had interviewed for the position before accepting his job in Anaheim.

The Blue Jays had been preparing for the possibility that LaCava would leave, according to Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. There was major concern in Toronto that LaCava would bring personnel with him to Baltimore if he had accepted the job, according to Ghiroli. He explained his decision to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.

“This was about the Toronto Blue Jays more than it is anything about the Baltimore Orioles," LaCava said. "The Orioles were classy in everything they did and I think they are going to go down the right path. For me, it was how much I love the Toronto Blue Jays and I really, really treasure my relationship with my general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, and I really want to see this through with him."

LaCava, Toronto's vice president of baseball operations and assistant General Manager, met with Orioles owner Peter Angelos yesterday. LaCava oversees player development and Latin American operations for the Blue Jays and has also worked for the Angels, Braves, Expos and Indians. He interviewed for GM jobs in Pittsburgh and Seattle in the past. For more on LaCava and Watson check out MLBTR's GM Candidate pieces.

A.J. Preller's name has come up in Baltimore, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (on Twitter). MLBTR's Tim Dierkes spoke with the Rangers executive in October.

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Comments

    • It does, but it wasn’t unexpected. This club constantly finds ways to screw things up.

      • Somewhere a Marlins fan is losing himself in a bottle of cheap bourbon while reading this comment.

            • Are any of these twelve Marlins fans so foolish as to try to argue Angelos isn’t the worst owner in the game. Most have conceded this point for a good decade.

      • I disagree. It still hurts.  Being an Orioles fan is like staying in an abusive relationship with an ugly girlfriend who is a cage fighter with brain damage.  

    • I’d like to say you get numb to it. You don’t It always sucks to be an O’s fan. Long after things should stop hurting, they don’t.

      • I would venture to say that things start to hurt even more when each year passes with a lame-duck GM and a bunch of good-old-boys whose dads were good baseball men getting promoted through the organization.

    • Let me guess- you’re the number one Jays fan too.

      LaClava wasn’t ever going anywhere…now LaCava on the other hand…

      At least you spelled Jays correctly.  That’s better than “Angles” fans have been doing lately. 

  4. Must be a really terrible situation to turn down such a huge promotion.

    • Oh, it is. There are only so many positions like this in baseball. You know you run a joke of a franchise when you get turned down.

      • One can only imagine the talk that Angelos had with La Cava that led to this decision.  It had to be something along the lines of “Buck is going to have input on player decisions and I need a team player who can work with Buck on signings, drafting, etc.”  La Cava smartly said, nope.  I do all of that and Buck manages on the field, or its not me you want for this job.

    • I’m pretty sure his meeting with Angelos likely scared him away. Who would want to be GM of that team with an owner who interferes too much and is unwilling to spend to help the team? I wouldn’t want that job either, not with him there.

  7. Showalter likely with too much control for Lcava’s liking, good for the Jays!

  9. Angelos didn’t want to give Anthony the authority he needed to turn the Orioles around.  It’s a shame because he’s a great guy and given money/flexibility is going to be a great GM.

    • LaCava interviewed with Angelo’s and was told that Showalter controls the players on the field.  When it comes to Free agents, Angelo’s himself decides if he wants them on his team.  He then tells the GM to acquire them and if he has to spend more than anyone else to do it, write a blank check.  LaCava answered that he doesn’t see old timers or yesterday’s heroes as valuable for the team.  He wants to follow the proven method of building through youth and the draft, with free agents acquired when the team has a solid foundation.  Angelo’s answers, well you do it my way or you won’t have much authority in the office of GM.  LaCava then answers, thanks for your time and good luck with someone else.  I want to be in an organization that will continue to improve and will contend each year.  He doesn’t subscribe to the Riccardi school of signing anyone to big deals and watching them fail, handicapping not only his payroll, but also losing the interest of the fans that want to see a competitive team, not one that goes through the motions with big names of yesterday.  The men shake hands and LaCava returns to the Jays.  lol.  

  10. notsureifsrs said

    stuck behind two goliaths, a david, and an aspiring titan in toronto – and stuck between peter angelos and buck showalter…as much as i’d love to be a GM, i don’t know if i’d want that job

    nothing more to see here

  11. what was the point of even talking? when are we going to get a break?  we’re down to stockstill and da jon.  baltimore has become buzz killigan’s island.

  12. Wow.  This really says something about the Orioles (and the Jays, I guess) if LaCava is willing to turn down a GM job there to stay on as assistant in TO.  The guy is 50 – this could be his last shot at GM, for all he knows.

    As a Jays fan, I’m very happy that our assistant GM isn’t going to an AL East rival.

  16. angelos didn’t even show up for lacava’s first interview.  he has the tact of a chimp, the urgency of a slug and the pro baseball intuition of a, well, a guy who would rather be golfing.  he’s just… slimey. and embarrassing.  it’s seriously borderline masochistic to like the orioles. seriously, i feel like eeyore. or however you spell the donkey’s name from winnie the pooh.

    •  and a jay fan, having had to deal with much of the same during what we now call the ‘dark period’ I completely sympathize with you.

      • dude, this is a dark epoch.  somehow we need to have a mutiny with the guy.  is that even possible–a good ol’ late 80’s hostile business takeover?

          • Great idea!  Back in the 1960s we often utilized “sit-ins” to defy the establishment and effect change.  That’s how you get things done.

            When Baltimore’s finest bring in the paddy wagons, the attack dogs and the tear gas, strategically located protesters up in the stadium’s nose-bleed sections should pelt the  police officers with condoms bloated with urine.  This generally results in the police running amok, using excessive force, and losing all sympathy from the general public.  You know, when a BPD German Shepherd tears apart some 75-year-old grandmother who is sitting on second base, minding her own business, knitting mittens for her great-grandson.

            You young fellows who missed the 60’s just haven’t lived.   

      • I wish we could have only suffered like the Jays. We haven’t been good since 1996.

      • I wish we could have only suffered like the Jays. We haven’t been good since 1996.

      • HA! Dark Period?
        Let’s assume you DONT include Gord Ash’s time in with JP, since you guys were not THAT bad then.

        01-09 = 9 years

        >74 wins = 8 years
        winning records = 4 years
        one last place finish (three years of 4th or lower)
        one cy young award
        one year where you were within 7 games on Sept 1st (a playoff race).

        Let’s look at the Orioles over the same 9 years.

        >74 wins = 1 year
        winning records = 0 years
        two last place finishes (8 years of 4th or lower)
        no awards
        no playoff races (though one year where we were in first in late June)

        I don’t think you can sympathize with us. Pity, maybe. But not sympathize. Not to mention the back-to-back world series that I’m sure you can actually even remember. Our lasting playoff memory of the last quarter century? Jeffrey Maier.

        Thank god for Cal Ripken.

    • Hello parkvillain

      You’ll be okay.  Honest.  As a Jays fan since the early 1980s, I’ve experienced the similar frustrations to what you’re going through now.  Here are some suggestions which may help you maintain your psychological equilibrium through, lo, these seemingly endless years of excessive failure.

      1.  Enrol in a high-level Anger Management program.
      2.  Make a full confession regarding your Orioles’ obsession to your priest.  It doesn’t matter if you’re not Catholic.  He’ll listen to you, then try to convert you.  It’s very therapeutic. 
      3.  Once a day, try to remember to thank the Almighty that you are only masochistic, and not delusional like Orioles’ fans who believe that their favorite team will rise to the lofty level of mediocrity sooner rather than later. 

    • I hate the content of what you wrote but you get 10000 style points. 

      • In that case, pray that Peter Angelos decides against using the Master Ball.

  21. What’s the point of even interviewing outside candidates? Just hire Stockstill and get this over with.

    LaCava is actually a talented exec who could really help an organization that’s interested in being helped. If someone is going to take heat for the further destruction of a once-proud franchise, I’d much rather it be a talentless chump who has already failed as Director of Player Development and Director of International Scouting.

    • “Just hire Stockstill and get this over with”

      GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!  GET OUT!!!!

  23. Why do I have a bad feeling our next GM will be Stockstill or Ricciardi?

  24. Well, I’m going to finally look into hitmen for Peter Angelos, anybody want to chip in?

  25. The Orioles… the only team in baseball with exactly a 0% chance of making the playoffs in the next five years?

    • Astros.  I think they’re the only team in 2011 where none of the major or minor league teams finished above .500

      • The AL East winner has won 95+ games every year since 2001.

        The NL Central has been won with 91 or fewer wins five times since 2001.

        I would go with the Orioles if I was making that bet.

    • If the Pirates, Cubs, Nationals, Mariners, or Astros make the playoffs I owe you a beer.     

      • wow, I’ll take you up on that bet. I’ll even give you 2 to 1 odds. I would be really surprised if the Nats don’t make the playoffs in the next 5 years. 

        • You can say what you want about me, but I never shy away from bold statements. 

          • Well said.  I gave you a “like”.  You’re a man among boys on these baseball blogs.

        • If that’s the case at least the majority stake in MASN will make Peter a little richer.

    • Oh I don’t know about this one. Never Say Never Again!
      If the Orioles hire Stockstill, yeah then 0% is a good bet, if Angelos and Company finally smarten up…. who knows!

  26. Bad quarter century to be an O’s fan with Angelos at the helm.

    • Angelos has only owned the O’s for 19 years, but it does feel like it’s been 25.

  32. Roch Kubatko says:

    I’ve talked to multiple people who are close to LaCava, and a few within the organization. Here’s what I’ve been told:LaCava wasn’t concerned with possible interference from ownership or Showalter in the daily operations of the ballclub. Money also wasn’t an issue. However, there were disagreements over some personnel moves he wanted to make.Also, LaCava is happy in Toronto. If the situation didn’t suit him perfectly, he wasn’t going to leave. But he most certainly was willing to do so at one point or he wouldn’t have come to Baltimore twice for interviews.Orioles are such freaking idiots.  Probably wanted to fire the Stockstills, and Angelos defended them. 

    • Read that on Roch’s blog. What a crock…

      LaCava wasn’t concerned with possible interference, but there were disagreements over some personnel moves he wanted to make. Um… That’s interference right there.

      It’s beyond obvious why LaCava didn’t take the job. And, for that same reason, no self-respecting executive is going to take this job.

      And that’s why I have to say… Welcome to the top, John Stockstill!

      • I don’t care! I am not looking to make friends here!
        At least LaCava Acknowledged and Thanked the Orioles what did Dipoto do?

        As for my GM picks they are no more ridiculous then the candidates they have interviewed!

          • Ask Jeff and Not Brooks… they know

            I have go out and get some fresh air LOL! Enough is Enough with Oriole Baseball.

            • I don’t even understand as to why I like Pat Gillick myself, I mean what has he ever accomplished? =P

              You also forgot Mike Arbuckle! Plus, Bob Watson was GM the last year Showalter was the Yankees manager if I remember correctly.

              • My apologies. And I’m not hating on gillick. Just saying you have a strange affinity for him. It’s creepy.

                Haha just kidding!

        • They didn’t offer Dipoto the job.  And Hart is much worse than LaCava or DiPoto.

          Ps – I don’t dislike you, I’m just hurt.

  35. it’s cool to have him staying.. but he’s gonna land a job somewhere pretty soon i’d imagine.

  36. best news of the day! i was worried we would loose him especially to division rivals. GO AA! please continue to be the guy ppl want to stay and work with!

  37. dear angelos,

    die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die

  38. I know its in bad taste but after Al Davis died the first thing I thought was “How old is Angelos? and how much longer do I have to wait?”

  39. LaCava: “So Angelos, if I were granted GM powers would you provide the funds to land Prince Fielder?”

    Peter: “What’s wrong with Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui? Fielder does not fit in the Oriole way”

    exit stage left..

  40. If David Wells and Sidney Ponson both managed to find a way to fit into the Oriole way, than I’m sure Fielder could too.

  41. Ferrell stays put.
    Lacava stays put.
    Jays pick up option on Edwin.
    No FA’s, AA’s looking for trades.

    Holy cow, I’m going to pee my pants, what an offseason …

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