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Blue Jays close in on deal for Orioles front office guru Dan Duquette

By Brandon C. Williams

Aug 27, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Baltimore Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette prior to a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 27, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Baltimore Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette prior to a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles are closing in on a trade for….O’s executive vice president Dan Duquette.

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How bad do the Toronto Blue Jays want to be like the Baltimore Orioles?

Bad enough to trade for their top front office brain.

Deals like this don’t happen often, yet the Blue Jays and Orioles are close to a deal that would send Baltimore executive vice president Dan Duquette across the border in exchange for a currently undisclosed compensation package.

OK, so it’s not an Edwin Encarnacion for Adam Jones blockbuster, yet the deal has become intriguing as the path to the potential deal is coming to life, so follow along….

Duquette is under contract with the Orioles through 2018, yet the Jays have been enamored with him since last month, when the team began to seek a replacement for president/CEO Paul Beeston, who was the Blue Jays’ first hire after the franchise was born in 1976. Despite guiding a revival of baseball in Baltimore that has led to a pair of playoff trips in the last three years, Duquette became intrigued about the prospects of taking over baseball operations for a team that has not made the postseason since the first Bill Clinton administration.

News of this probably cost Duquette some Christmas cards here and there, yet the only thing currently keeping him in Baltimore is owner Peter Angelos, who will probably be just a bit more happy depending on what the Jays are going to give him in return.

Yet, as you may expect, the Orioles office is not a happy place.

Yeah, it would be kind of awkward to go into Duquette’s office only to see him online peering over potential homes in Toronto.

You can’t blame Orioles fans for being angry. After all, baseball life before Duquette was an endless stream of fruitless summers chasing the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays, as the O’s had not reached the postseason since winning the AL East in 1997. Duquette turned around a 69-win team into a 93-win AL Wild Card team in 2012 before a near miss the following season. Baltimore won 96 games last season.

If this feels like a baseball version of wife-swapping, then you’re certainly not the only one thinking it. In this case, the Blue Jays get the edge for now, yet we’ll have to see what the Orioles get in return. Still, visions of key parties, lava lamps and men dressing like Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati are hard to shake off.

Not familiar with Tarlek? Here’s a sample:

Now you see what we mean.

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