The Baltimore Orioles have decided to let go of executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager Dan Duquette, the team announced Wednesday.
In a statement, the team announced that Duquette's replacement will be hired from outside the organization and will have final say on all baseball-related matters. Director of player development Brian Graham will run the team's baseball operations department on an interim basis.
Dan Duquette: “The club decided they weren’t going to renew my contract at the end of the term and I think thats probably for the best. ... I appreciate the opportunity Peter Angelos gave me and the confidence he gave me with the opportunity to run the ballclub.” #orioles
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) October 4, 2018
Duquette, whose contract had expired at season's end, was hired by Baltimore in November 2011 after a nine-year absence from baseball. The 60-year-old helped return the Orioles to relevance, as the teams he built made three playoff appearances in a six-year span from 2012-16, and advanced as far as the ALCS only four years ago.
But the Orioles haven't posted a winning record since their 2016 playoff appearance, and an abysmal '18 campaign that saw the Orioles lose 115 games helped seal Duquette's fate. It didn't help that he made some questionable financial decisions during the past few years, including signing first baseman Chris Davis - who just finished one of the worst individual seasons in baseball history - to a $161-million contract that includes deferred money through the year 2037.
Duquette had previously served as GM of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox during the 1990s.
Baltimore also fired manager Buck Showalter.
