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Joined: 20-04-2024
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Subject :BALTIMORE - Dan Duquettes job description includes making trades that will help improve the Baltimor
BALTIMORE - Dan Duquettes job description includes making trades that will help improve the Baltimore Orioles. Vans Old Skool Reissue DX .This off-season, Duquette was in the middle of a potential blockbuster deal.Duquette, the Orioles president of baseball operations, acknowledged Saturday there was substance to reports that the Toronto Blue Jays were in pursuit of him to be club president.A lot of times, players will be a trade rumour and sometimes managers get traded, Duquette said. Its even more rare that executives get traded, but occasionally it happens. Its a unique experience. I think when you have a good team and you do well, people take notice.Under Duquettes guidance, the Orioles won 96 games last season, captured the AL East for the first time since 1997 and advanced to the AL Championship Series.That piqued Torontos interest.As you get better as an organization, things that youre doing are trying to be either emulated or acquired, Orioles manager Buck Showalter noted. Its inevitable as an organization that, as you get better, people are going to be coveted more.Because Duquette is under contract with Baltimore through 2018, the Blue Jays had to offer Baltimore ample compensation to secure his services.No deal was made, so Duquette was talking about Orioles baseball on Saturday at FanFest, the teams annual winter convention.He insisted that Torontos advances did not distract him from seeking to put a better club on the field in 2015.Its important for the Orioles fans to know that my focus — and my singular focus — is on improving the team, he said. We do that day by day, trade by trade, addition by addition. We did that this year in the off-season like weve done it in the past.With the exception of Duquettes potential departure, its been a quiet off-season for Baltimore. The losses include free agent outfielders Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, along with reliever Andrew Miller.The most notable addition is outfielder Travis Snider, obtained in a trade with Pittsburgh.But thats typical of Duquette, who followed a quiet winter in 2014 by adding Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez during spring training.While its important to improve your ballclub in off-season, were not really trying to win the off-season, Duquette said. Were trying to put together a team that can compete and get to the off-season and prevail. Thats different from making headlines in the winter time.Showalter had absolutely no complaint about the teams off-season activity.As we get into spring and there comes a need, well be able to do it, he said.The Orioles played much of the 2014 season without injured stars Manny Machado and Matt Wieters. Having them in the lineup will make more of a difference than any trade or free agent addition.The biggest and most powerful improvement we have to our ballclub this year is Machado coming back and Wieters coming back, Duquette said.In other news, suspended slugger Chris Davis said Saturday his use of Adderall last season was not as a performance enhancer but rather a way to cope with an oblique injury that landed him on the disabled list and played havoc with his swing.It was never a baseball issue, he said. Just an everyday life thing.Davis was suspended for 25 games. The punishment will expire after opening day.I was just kind of overwhelmed with everything that was going on last year with the injury, he said. There were a lot of things that were taking my focus away from baseball.Davis said he had previously been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, which got him a green light from the independent administrator of Major League Baseballs drug program to use the drug in 2008.I had an exemption in the past. It was denied in 2013 and obviously, I shouldnt have been taking it last year, Davis said. It was a moment of weakness.After batting .286 with 53 homers and 138 RBIs in 2013, Davis numbers slipped dramatically in 2014 to .196 with 26 homers and 72 RBIs.This year, he expects things to be different.Being away from it a month longer than the rest of these guys was tough at first, but I used it to my advantage to get into my workouts a little bit earlier, Davis said. I definitely think last year got off to a slow start, so this year I wanted to get off on the right foot. Im doing some different workouts this year.He jokingly said that included bunting down the third-base line, a way to cope with the shift that limited his effectiveness. Vans Shoes Sale Australia . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Vans Old Skool Leather White . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. http://www.vansoldskoolaustralia.com/vans-old-skool-sale-australia/vans-old-skool-black.html . TSN 1290s coverage begins with Hustler & Lawless at 3pm. Rick Ralph hosts the Official Jets Pre-game Show at 5pm.MELBOURNE, Australia -- Thomas Bjorn of Denmark maintained his patience around a tricky Royal Melbourne on Friday to shoot a 3-under 68 and take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the World Cup. Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. He and Matt Kuchar led the overall team standings for the U.S. after 36 holes, with a three-stroke margin over Denmark and seven over Japan and Australia. Tied for third in the individual stroke-play competition were Jason Day of Australia (70) and Ricardo Santos of Portugal (69). Kuchar was in a four-way tie for fifth after a 68, five strokes behind Bjorn. Adam Scott, who has won the Australian PGA and Australian Masters over the past two weeks, shot 68 and was nine strokes behind Bjorn in a group with Graeme McDowell (71). There was no 36-hole cut in the 60-man field that includes 26 two-man national teams and eight individual golfers. "A few things happened on the golf course today that really tested me," Bjorn said. "I three-putted the first -- I thought the greens were a lot firmer than they were early on." Bjorn shot 66 on Thursday and shared the first-round lead with Streelman. "I patiently worked my way into the round, maybe not as good as yesterday," he said. "But I played some really good stuff on the back nine, and Ive got to take that with me into the weekend." Streelman, representing the U.S. for the first time, birdied his first four holes but gave three strokes back with a bogey on the eighth and a double-bogey on the ninth, blading a shot out of the bunker. "I kind of just did what you are suppposed to on those first four holes," Streelman said. Vans Sk8 Hi Black Gum. "I hit it in the wrong part of the golf course on No. 8 and No. 9, and Royal Melbourne will bite you when you do that which is what makes it such an awesome golf course." He made a four-foot par save on No. 17, and again on 18. "That was about a cup out, just breathe on it type of putt and its one of those when I hit it I knew I had made it," he said of his putt on the 17th. Streelman, playing Royal Melbourne for the first time, said he couldnt believe the quickness of the greens. "It is the same feel of Augusta on a weekend -- actually I wouldnt know because I havent made a cut in the Masters yet. So Friday afternoon at Augusta it feels like," he said. Streelman said despite the change in format here, in which individual stroke-play is being accentuated with US$7 million in prize money, with only US$1 million for the team component, he wants to win the World Cup team trophy for the U.S. Kuchar and Gary Woodland won the last team event in 2011 in China. The individual portion of the tournament was introduced this year to mirror the format and rankings system which will be used in 2016 when golf makes its return to the Olympics at Rio de Janeiro. "I am definitely keeping my eye on that team score," Streelman said. "I know he (Kuchar) will be there for me and then hopefully I can continue to play well and we can bring it home." Day, who birdied No. 15 and then made three good pars to finish the round, didnt have any luck on the greens. "I had three lip-outs, pretty harsh ones, but definitely happy with shooting 1 under," Day said. "Being out here at Royal Melbourne with how hard and fast the greens are, it can definitely go south pretty quick." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' ' |
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