A few notes and quotes from Dan Duquette

NASHVILLE - Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette didn't meet today with agent Scott Boras and no more progress has been made in trying to reach agreement with first baseman Chris Davis.

Duquette said he believes the club's relationship with Boras "is fine" and he's not conceding that a deal won't get done before team executives head home on Thursday afternoon.

"I don't know," Duquette said. "I would never say never, but there's a lot of things that go into these multi-year commitments."

Have the Orioles been competitive in their offer to Davis?

"Who are we competing against?" Duquette asked. "We made a really aggressive offer to sign this player and still field a competitive team. Like I said yesterday, that's really the issue. How much resources are you going to put towards one part of your team, right?

"Everybody needs power. Everybody needs guys to get on base. Everybody needs good defenders. You need starting pitching. You need middle relief. You need a bullpen. That's really what the issue is, and we want to provide affordable entertainment for families to come out and enjoy at Camden Yards, so we're going to try and find that sweet spot where we can put as much as we can toward the payroll and toward having a competitive team."

Duquette has trade and free agent offers on the table in an attempt to bolster the outfield and he believes that he can add a player later this week or next week. He said the Orioles are moving "toward a resolution."

You say you want a resolution?

Duquette wouldn't bite when asked whether an accepted offer from another player would change the parameters of the Davis offer.

"Like I said, the team has to make choices to staff the club this season and beyond, and it's about time the players are going to need to come to a decision, too," Duquette said. "A lot of players like to make their decisions prior to the holidays, which makes sense. And once the market starts moving, the economics are so powerful, teams can't wait forever because these are huge financial commitments. From the club perspective, you have to look out for the long-term interest of the team. That's what we're trying to do in our deliberations."

So is there an offer on the table for another player that would impact the Orioles' ability or desire to re-sign Davis?

"That's a good question. I hadn't thought about it that way," Duquette said.

"I can tell you this: I'm not going to answer that question directly, but I can tell you we have offers out to have a competitive team and have some depth to our lineup."

What about making a seven-year offer to a player who turns 30 in March?

"I think you have to weigh that length of the contract for every situation," Duquette said. "I mean, the club's tolerance has been more along the lines of four, five and six years. But I think you have to weigh that for each player."

The Orioles' offer for Davis is worth approximately $150 million, as I reported last night.

"I didn't put that number out, OK?" Duquette said. "We've had a dialogue going to try to sign this player for quite a while. That's been clear to everyone."

Having the terms made public "doesn't bother me," Duquette said, "but it didn't come from the club."

Boras disputed the figures earlier today while meeting with reporters.

"Interesting," Duquette said. "I'm sure it will all come out in the wash."

Duquette still believes the Orioles will sign a starting pitcher. He just doesn't know when he's going to happen.

"We've been talking to a couple of starting pitchers," he said. "So far, the only starting pitcher we've been able to add to the club is we've picked up (Vance) Worley on waivers and we signed him to a contract. We have talked to a couple pitchers today and we're going to be able to add to our pitching. I don't know if we're going to get it done this week, but we should be able to add to our pitching staff."

The Orioles had interest in Ben Zobrist, but they didn't get into serious negotiations before he agreed to terms with the Cubs.

"It became obvious to us pretty early in the process that he had one particular team that he was targeting," Duquette said.

The Orioles are expected to begin interviewing candidates for assistant hitting coach next week.

Duquette stated again that the Orioles will be "active" in the Rule 5 draft that concludes the Winter Meetings and sends me dancing into the empty lobbies.