Blue Jays Morning Brew: Possible New President & More

It is bound to be a busy day with today being the deadline for players and teams to work out a deal for 2015 before heading to arbitration. Oh, and there could be a deal happening with the Orioles to land a new president. Let’s see what is going on some of the rumblings regarding the Blue Jays.

Alright, let’s get to it. The Dan Duquette Saga is in full swing. The following came out on Wednesday:

After word got out that the Blue Jays were negotiating with the Orioles to bring Dan Duquette over as new president, Shi Davidi reminded us early Thursday morning that Orioles owner, Peter Angelos is not giving up Duquette. Or, at least he is not admitting it.

"“There have not been any changes in the status of Dan Duquette. He is our GM and he is going to remain our GM. He is concentrating on his efforts to determine the composition of our team for 2015. That is the answer. Period. We are not in any negotiations with Mr. (Edward) Rogers. We have a contract (with Duquette), and that’s the end of it.”"

In fact, he sounds pretty annoyed at the whole thing. Maybe it is just posturing on his part. Maybe he is annoyed that he’ll have to find a replacement for Duquette. Maybe he won’t be using any Rogers’ services in the near future. Or, maybe he is tired of the rumors.

But, it didn’t end there. ESPN’s Buster Olney had this to share:

And the big one:

Fans reacted rather harshly to this one. What exactly is an “extraordinary offer” to lure a GM into a president’s role? Yes, it would appear that the return in this type of ‘trade’ would need to be big to satisfy Angelos. But, Major League Baseball must approve any deal the teams make and they are not likely to start allowing teams to demand major talent in exchange for management. So, while Olney may lead us to believe the Blue Jays would have to part with major talent, we must not yet start to raise the alarms. Yet, anyway. Let’s wait until it happens. Which could be soon.

Over at The StarPhoenix, Scott Stinson laments the treatment of Paul Beeston throughout this whole dramatic recruitment process. Stinson points out that Beeston really is the last reminder of any sort of glory for this club. Beeston was president during the World Series days and is now being left behind in a rather unscrupulous way according to Stinson. 

Live Feed

Betsided

On to other matters…Rob Kelley at BostonSuperBlog.com suggests that perhaps the Washington Nationals should look to move the 2004 draft pick of the Expos, Ian Desmond. One landing spot for the shortstop as suggested by Kelley is Toronto. He thinks that the club could switch him to second base and pair him with Jose Reyes.

This could be an option depending on what is being asked for in return. The Blue Jays do have several options to fill the 2B spot. They may not be overwhelmingly pleasant options, but it does not appear that Alex Anthopoulos is going to give up the farm to fill the spot for one year, or until Devon Travis is ready to take over.

Next: Brett Cecil and Blue Jays Agree to One year Deal

Over at Climbing Tal’s Hill, Andy Brown suggests that the Houston Astros trade Dexter Fowler to the Toronto Blue Jays. Before the minor league deal was reached with Andy Dirks, this may have been an interesting idea. The problem lies in Brown’s asking price. He wants Drew Hutchison in return. That one would be a hard pill to swallow.

It appears that our friends to the South will get to know the Blue Jays right out of the gate in 2015. According to Ben Nicholson-Smith, ESPN will broadcast their season opener. That is great news for a team who often doesn’t get the recognition it deserves in the US. It is nice to see ESPN pick up this game. Wait. The game is in New York? Against the Yankees? So ESPN is picking up THEIR home opener? No. That’s not it. They’re there for the Blue Jays.