Earlier today, we learned that after nearly ten years away from the game, Dan Duquette is coming back to baseball as the Orioles' General Manager. Here's a look at some reactions to the move from around baseball and other O's news..
- While he believes that Duquette is a "good man" and a "very bright" individual, Peter Gammons of MLB Network (via Twitter), he wonders if the GM will be able to get up to speed after a decade away from baseball. After drafting Nomar Garciaparra in 1994, the former Red Sox GM gave up on the draft and only one first-round pick made it to the majors (Twitter link). Gammons feels that the O's have decayed ever since Peter Angelos let Pat Gillick go at the end of his contract in 1998 and wonders if Duquette will have the contacts to find undervalued talent (via Twitter).
- It's amazing that Duquette got a GM job just a few weeks after one of his protégés, Ben Cherington, was named GM of the Red Sox, writes Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Duquette who hired Cherington in 1999 as an amateur scout.
- Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports seems to doubt how much authority Duquette will have in Baltimore.
- Duquette comes with plenty of detractors, but so did manager Buck Showalter when he came to Baltimore, writes MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli.
- Pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (via Twitter) is happy to have Duquette aboard as the team's new GM. The right-hander writes, "By all accounts we're fortunate to have him."
- Last Sunday, Orioles pitcher Chris Jakubauskas refused his outright assignment to Triple-A and elected free agency, but said that he would like to reach a new deal with the club. Tonight, Jakubauskas tweets that he hopes to have a new agreement for 2012 hammered out by tomorrow.
