Dan Duquette to join AZ??

[Ryanwb]

Former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette is rumored to replace Sandy Johnson as an assistant GM.

No dear god, please!!! Duquette single handedly ruined the Red Sox and I would be willing to get he would become Joe Jr's replacement when he is finally fired sometime soon

 

[Mulli]

Former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette is rumored to replace Sandy Johnson as an assistant GM.

No dear god, please!!! Duquette single handedly ruined the Red Sox and I would be willing to get he would become Joe Jr's replacement when he is finally fired sometime soon

I second that no dear god no. Duquette is a melonfarmer to be sure.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I don't know how he single-handedly ruined the Red Sox. The nucleus of their 2004 team (Lowe, Varitek, Pedro, Manny, Damon, Nomar) were all Duquette acquisitions. But according to Sox fans, his drafts were crap and he ruined their farm system and made moves to feed his own ego as opposed to winning.

In Montreal howeve again according to Sox fans, he had an excellent reputation for personnel moves (Pedro for DeShields) and scouting (Vlad Guerrero, Jose Vidro). I mentioned this in the other thread that LaCava on the news last night pretty much said Duquette will most likely take over as soon as next week. Let's pray Moorad brought in Duquette to build a team for the future as he succeeded doing in Montreal and not aim for the present as Duquette failed annually doing in Boston.

 

[Lefty]

He's better than Joe G. Jr.!

 

[Mulli]

Jr has a ring. Duq doesn't. Jr traded Schil for Fossum. Duq bailed on Clemens 3 or 4 Cy Youngs early. The ring counts for a lot. Edge to Jr. in my opinion.

 

[Lefty]

Jr has a ring. Duq doesn't. Jr traded Schil for Fossum. Duq bailed on Clemens 3 or 4 Cy Youngs early. The ring counts for a lot. Edge to Jr. in my opinion.

Joe G. Jr. is a complete idiot. He only has the job because of his name. The Red Sox robbed the Diamondbacks.

 

[Djaughe]

I don't know how to react...on one side duquette spent alot of money and wiped out the red sox farm system....on the other he did keep a low budget team like the expos competitive with good farm players...

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Joe G. Jr. is a complete idiot. He only has the job because of his name. The Red Sox robbed the Diamondbacks.

Yeah, he sure was an idiot when he traded for Gonzalez and Schilling (the first time). Five or so extremely successful years followed by one bad year all of a sudden makes you an idiot? How many GMs have a ring anyways?

 

[Brandon_Webb]

Yeah, he sure was an idiot when he traded for Gonzalez and Schilling (the first time). Five or so extremely successful years followed by one bad year all of a sudden makes you an idiot? How many GMs have a ring anyways?

Theres no way you can considerin him a good GM.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Theres no way you can considerin him a good GM.

I didnt say he was. He just doesnt have the track record of an "idiot."

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

My biggest problem with Joe Jr. is his lack of creativity. Billy Beane has his hand forced this winter into trading one of his Big Three (like Joe was with Schilling last winter) and I'll guarantee you he will work the phones and involve as many teams as he has to in order to get the players he wants. Joe just settles for whoever the other team has as evidenced by the only names swirling in the Schilling trade last summer were Fossum, Soriano, Nick Johnson, and Trot Nixon.

My other problem is his insistence on washed-up talent as opposed to unfulfilled talent. Observe how good GMs babysit the waiver wire looking for cheap steals such as David Ortiz, Bronson Arroyo, Brendan Donnelly, and David Eckstein. Joe Jr. waits around for 35 yeard old has-been and signs them then ******* to the media about injury problems when these geriatrics inevitably find themselves on the DL. The guy's a joke. Period.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

My biggest problem with Joe Jr. is his lack of creativity. Billy Beane has his hand forced this winter into trading one of his Big Three (like Joe was with Schilling last winter) and I'll guarantee you he will work the phones and involve as many teams as he has to in order to get the players he wants. Joe just settles for whoever the other team has as evidenced by the only names swirling in the Schilling trade last summer were Fossum, Soriano, Nick Johnson, and Trot Nixon.

My other problem is his insistence on washed-up talent as opposed to unfulfilled talent. Observe how good GMs babysit the waiver wire looking for cheap steals such as David Ortiz, Bronson Arroyo, Brendan Donnelly, and David Eckstein. Joe Jr. waits around for 35 yeard old has-been and signs them then ******* to the media about injury problems when these geriatrics inevitably find themselves on the DL. The guy's a joke. Period.

Excellent post. I don't know this loser keeps his job.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Excellent post. I don't know this loser keeps his job.

I really didn't mean to come off on Joe Jr. basher #1 because he is not as inept as it appears. For one he has a good track record of recognizing and addressing the team's problems as opposed to some GMs (Cubs) who try to cover up their flaws by improving a different part of their team. The problem is that while he does recognize the problems, he addresses them wrong.

For example, while 90% of baseball people assumed Matt Kata would get the nod at 2B, Joe Jr. realized how worthless he was and signed Alomar. Good work by Joe for realizing Kata was a fluke, but bad move by bringing in a malcontent who was way past his prime. Same thing with Robby Hammock and the acquisition of Brent Mayne before the season and Koyie Hill mid-season. Good work by Joe by not putting all his eggs in one basket in Hammock before the season and pulling the plug on the Hammock experiemnt by acquiring Hill, but bad move by making his backup Mayne when we could have had his production from Barajas or any other minor leaguer at half the price. The same could be said of the 2004 problem of pitching depth but again Joe Jr. mishandled the personnel part of it. You can find literally dozens more examples of this type of mismanagement most notably the never-ending search for a 3rd starter, but there definitely is a pattern of Joe recognizing a team's flaw that many GMs would ignore or not see, followed by his inability to fix it.

This is precisely why Joe Jr. was successful in previous years. He always had good intuition about the team's problems and he was able to address them without the hassle of a payroll cap or the worry of losing stud prospects. But even with a blank check he missed more than he hit but with an unlimited budget he was able to overcome his blunders. Now that he can't sign or trade for whoever he wants, his failures are more in the spotlight as he cannot throw money at the problem to make it go away.

 

[Lefty]

Yeah, he sure was an idiot when he traded for Gonzalez and Schilling (the first time). Five or so extremely successful years followed by one bad year all of a sudden makes you an idiot? How many GMs have a ring anyways?

Joe G. Jr. is a moron. How many GM's trade 5 players for one guy who then leaves the team the next year? If you're a 40-year old has-been pitcher, Joe will sign you. What great signings he made last year. The guy overpaid players like Jay Bell and now are paying deffered salaries for a long time. Do you know Bernard Gilkey has a 25-year contract that pays him 1 million dollars a year?

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I really didn't mean to come off on Joe Jr. basher #1 because he is not as inept as it appears. For one he has a good track record of recognizing and addressing the team's problems as opposed to some GMs (Cubs) who try to cover up their flaws by improving a different part of their team. The problem is that while he does recognize the problems, he addresses them wrong.

For example, while 90% of baseball people assumed Matt Kata would get the nod at 2B, Joe Jr. realized how worthless he was and signed Alomar. Good work by Joe for realizing Kata was a fluke, but bad move by bringing in a malcontent who was way past his prime. Same thing with Robby Hammock and the acquisition of Brent Mayne before the season and Koyie Hill mid-season. Good work by Joe by not putting all his eggs in one basket in Hammock before the season and pulling the plug on the Hammock experiemnt by acquiring Hill, but bad move by making his backup Mayne when we could have had his production from Barajas or any other minor leaguer at half the price. The same could be said of the 2004 problem of pitching depth but again Joe Jr. mishandled the personnel part of it. You can find literally dozens more examples of this type of mismanagement most notably the never-ending search for a 3rd starter, but there definitely is a pattern of Joe recognizing a team's flaw that many GMs would ignore or not see, followed by his inability to fix it.

This is precisely why Joe Jr. was successful in previous years. He always had good intuition about the team's problems and he was able to address them without the hassle of a payroll cap or the worry of losing stud prospects. But even with a blank check he missed more than he hit but with an unlimited budget he was able to overcome his blunders. Now that he can't sign or trade for whoever he wants, his failures are more in the spotlight as he cannot throw money at the problem to make it go away.

I was speaking more to his solution of adding over the hill players, and trusting in over the hill players, like Gonzo's "thanks for the memories" contract, which severely handcuffs a middle market team. Shane Renyolds, ugh....

 

[BC867]

Theres no way you can considerin him a good GM.

Am I the only person who believes that Jerry Colangelo called the shots, and Joe, Jr., did the legwork?

Look at all the Press conferences after personnel moves. Jerry dominated them, and gave Jr. a minute or so.

Joe has functioned as Asst. G.M. Just as Bryan has as the Phoenix Son.

I don't believe that Joe, Jr., or Bryan have ever functioned as a true G.M.

What are your opinions?

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Joe G. Jr. is a moron. How many GM's trade 5 players for one guy who then leaves the team the next year? If you're a 40-year old has-been pitcher, Joe will sign you. What great signings he made last year. The guy overpaid players like Jay Bell and now are paying deffered salaries for a long time. Do you know Bernard Gilkey has a 25-year contract that pays him 1 million dollars a year?

First off, where's your ring?

According to many Diamondbacks fans, the 2003 season was unacceptable. Joe had to A) dump salary, and B) improve the offense. The Schilling trade was bad because he was forced into it. However, the Sexson deal would have turned out just fine had he not gotten injured. We were able to trade off expensive spare parts and one decent prospect for the huge offensive upgrade from Overbay to Sexson. And as for the deferred salary, it was necessary to win the World Series, so I accept it. And after all, we have had only what, 2 losing seasons? Dont know many "moron" GMs that have had more success than Joe.

 

[Evil Ash]

Am I the only person who believes that Jerry Colangelo called the shots, and Joe, Jr., did the legwork?

Look at all the Press conferences after personnel moves. Jerry dominated them, and gave Jr. a minute or so.

Joe has functioned as Asst. G.M. Just as Bryan has as the Phoenix Son.

I don't believe that Joe, Jr., or Bryan have ever functioned as a true G.M.

What are your opinions?

Ding, ding, ding ... we have a winner. The reason we got screwed over in that trade with Boston was simply Jerry Colangelo's obsession with Ritchie Sexson. He forced the Boston trade becuse he wanted to get Sexson so bad that he didn't care what it took to get him. Sadly many people have made Joe Jr. the scape goat. I'm not saying he's the best GM in the world but he's done a pretty good job except when FORCED to make moves (i.e. because of Jerry's obsession with certain players, money issues that weren't his doing, etc).

I've known that Jerry wanted Sexson here 3 years ago and I'm just a fan. If GMs are forced to make a choice with limitation usually you get screwed over.

 

[Brandon_Webb]

Am I the only person who believes that Jerry Colangelo called the shots, and Joe, Jr., did the legwork?

Look at all the Press conferences after personnel moves. Jerry dominated them, and gave Jr. a minute or so.

Joe has functioned as Asst. G.M. Just as Bryan has as the Phoenix Son.

I don't believe that Joe, Jr., or Bryan have ever functioned as a true G.M.

What are your opinions?

I really can't comment on that because i have no idea how that works. But considering he does have the GM position he shall recieve the blame.


Also he has made many bad trades (IE Durazo)

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

I really can't comment on that because i have no idea how that works. But considering he does have the GM position he shall recieve the blame.


Also he has made many bad trades (IE Durazo)

He has also made many, many very good trades, including more than one absolute steals.

 

[AZZenny]

I really didn't mean to come off on Joe Jr. basher #1

No, because I want to lay claim to being his #1 basher! I think he's incompetent. Not saying he's the worst, but he's in the bottom quartile. With my Red Sox heritage, I have pretty uneasy feelings about Dan Duquette, too. But then, I treasure our farm system. (btw, Rizzo just signed on for another year.)

I don't doubt JC pushed his hand on things like dumping Curt for a song and getting Sexson at any cost. But JC then must get the credit for acquiring RJ and Curt, not Jr. And let's not forget Buck's fingers were in many of the early trades. I am a bit tired of hearing how great the Gonzo trade was - that was what - 5 years ago?

Not for a moment do I believe JC said to go get Shane Reynolds, Jim Parque, Alomar, Estallela, Mayne, send Looch and Barajas away, get Alpo, no, I mean Helling, no, I mean Elmer. Let me add, Fetters2, Colby2, Sadler. And JC is not there now saying Aurilia, Royce Clayton, Jeff Fassero; that is very Joe Jr-ish. I will say this for him - he's not been too bad about trading away real top minor league prospects - Brad Penny was probably unavoidable, Vicente Padilla was OK for Curt; the fact that he shed Travis Lee and BK was addition by subtraction, in a way.

Joe looks at stats like RBIs with men in scoring position to judge batters; he has said so. That means he is trying to go after 'clutch,' which doesn't exist in a way that can be statistically identified. He looks at Wins to judge pitchers. He can't pick a non-ace starting pitcher if his life depended on it.

He negotiates with a bar of soap in one hand. He signs mediocre players to overly rich, overly long contracts, then has to slash when he gets startled by the reality budget he somehow forgot would be there all along. He just lacks foresight and long-range planning ability.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

First off, where's your ring?

According to many Diamondbacks fans, the 2003 season was unacceptable. Joe had to A) dump salary, and B) improve the offense. The Schilling trade was bad because he was forced into it. However, the Sexson deal would have turned out just fine had he not gotten injured. We were able to trade off expensive spare parts and one decent prospect for the huge offensive upgrade from Overbay to Sexson. And as for the deferred salary, it was necessary to win the World Series, so I accept it. And after all, we have had only what, 2 losing seasons? Dont know many "moron" GMs that have had more success than Joe.

Talk about spin.

A) Many teams have to dump salary yet stay competitive and some of them don't even have the luxury of getting MLB-ready talent for a Top 10 pitcher in order to stay that way. Look at the 2004 Atlanta Braves. Slashed $15 million in payroll yet won the NL East. 2004 Minnesota Twins lost $12 million in payroll yet won AL Central. 2004 Florida Marlins slashed $21 million worth of salaries yet hung in there until the last week of the season. Of these three teams the only one that traded away a high-profile player and receive an MLB-ready player back was the Marlins with Derrek Lee. Who cares if the whole league knew we were going to trade Schilling? The whole league knows Beane has to trade one of the Big Three and I bet you anything he's not going to get hosed.

B) You're right the Sexson-Overbay/Spivey/Counsell would have worked out fine had Sexson not been injured. Overbay, Spivey, and Counsell are nothing special and Sexson, although I think he's vastly overrated, would have been an upgrade over all three combined. However, the D-Backs certainly would have still been a bad team even had they remained injury-free. The fact remains that we had a lot of chips to play with last offseason in the person Curt Schilling and Joe Jr. did not improve this team in the present nor in the future, which is completely inexcusable.

 

[Cardinal Bob]

Jr has a ring. Duq doesn't. Jr traded Schil for Fossum. Duq bailed on Clemens 3 or 4 Cy Youngs early. The ring counts for a lot. Edge to Jr. in my opinion.

Look at what Clemens did the last few years he was in Boston. It wasn't good. In 1994 and 1995, Clemens was 25-30 pounds overweight and was a .500 pithcer. I'd argue that by Duquette dumping him and making that "twilight of his career" statement, he motivated Clemens to actually get in shape and work hard to become a great pitcher again...hence the 4 CY awards he won with the Blue Jays, Yanks, and Astros.

Duquette, as MaoTosiFanClub pointed out, acquired Varitek and Lowe (for the immortal Heathcliff Slocumb), signed Manny (WS MVP), drafted Trot Nixon and Nomar, signed Johnny Damon, traded for Pedro, just to name a few. Duquette is a great baseball mind...he is NOT a people person, and for that, many players ended up hating him.

 

[Lefty]

Besides overpaying Jay Bell, Joe G. Jr. overpaid Todd Stotlemeyer. Todd had arm problems before he got here and Joe still gave him a fat contract. I forgot about Durazo for Dessens. Billy Beane stole Durazo from the Diamondbacks.

I'll take Dan Duquette over Joe any day.