Duquette: "We're not about signing high-profile free agents"

SAN DIEGO - The cash continues to flow at the Winter Meetings at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Free agents are signing for big bucks, just as they did before executives flew to the West Coast, leaving some officials and scouts shaking their heads and wondering just how much higher the salaries can climb.

"Can you believe some of the money these guys are getting for a couple outs?" asked Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette.

Duquette says none of it impacts what the Orioles want to do in preparation for spring training and the 2015 season.

"No, not really, but keep in mind who the Orioles are, right?" Duquette said today while meeting with reporters in a room adjacent to the area where negotiations have been held, leaving the media to speculate about the change in venue.

"We've got an established pitching staff and we've got a strong everyday lineup. We've got to fill a few holes. We're going to look at some options in the major league free agent market and sign a couple of players. We'll probably be active in the Rule 5 draft like we have the last couple of years. And we continue to build our team piece by piece.

"How we build our team is we build it looking at all the options on the market and we do it year-round, OK? So very rarely do we sign a high-profile free agent. Last year, we signed (Nelson) Cruz and (Ubaldo) Jimenez. One of them worked out really good to the club's benefit, the other one we haven't gotten the kind of returns in the Jimenez investment that we'd like. But there are a lot of other acquisitions we made where the players did well.

"We're not about signing high-profile free agents. We're about bringing good players through the farm system, we're about making trades, we're about being active in the Rule 5 drafts, signing international players. That's who we are."

The Orioles continue to meet with agents and executives, but they can't close a deal. Time is running out in San Diego.

"We've been talking to a couple of teams about trades," Duquette said. "We had several discussions early this morning. We had the foundation for a trade, but it didn't work out.

"We did have discussions with some agents about some free agents that we're trying to sign, so that's moving along, but we don't have anything done yet. We've got a couple of conversations later in the day. We're still working on our preparations in the Rule 5 draft and we're going to see if we can be active in that, so we're looking at some players to take in the major league phase of the draft and also the minor league phase of the draft. That's what we were working on this afternoon."

Asked for more information on the trade that didn't happen, Duquette said, "We thought we were going to close a deal with a club, but it just didn't come together. We tried. It was for pitching. We were working on some pitching trades.

"We were mostly following up with trades from previous discussions, but we did have a couple of new discussions. When there's players moving around, other players become available, so with some certain player signings, players became available that that weren't previously before on the market. A couple of new things today to consider."

Are the Orioles more likely to sign a free agent or make a trade? Duquette's answer remains the same.

"I think the free agent signings are still more interesting to us," he said.

Duquette maneuvered around a question regarding further negotiations with outfielder Delmon Young, who wants a two-year deal. The Orioles would rather guarantee one year. They could include an option for 2016.

"We're looking to fill some of the holes in our lineup and in the outfield," Duquette said. "We've been active in discussions with players to see if there's a fit."

Is anything imminent?

"You never know," he said, "but we're working on a couple of different fronts."

Duquette wants to hold onto his six starting pitchers.

"Yeah, we like our starting pitching," he said.

That includes left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who is drawing considerable interest and has one year remaining on his contract.

"That's not surprising," Duquette said. "He had a great year. In fact, he's had three really good years. We like Chen, we like the work that he does. He's dependable, he's solid, left-handed and we're glad we've got him for another year.

"We like Chen on our team. I expect that he's going to continue with our team. He's solid and the club got a good deal for the option year. He's happy here. He's performed. Obviously, we like him. It doesn't surprise me that the other clubs like him because he's a solid, dependable starting pitcher and left-handed."

Duquette was amused by a question related to whether he's talked to agent Scott Boras about an extension for Chen.

"We didn't need to have a discussion. We had an option," Duquette replied.

Oh, is that how Scott works? Does he usually sign his players to contract extensions the year they go to the free agent market? Interesting."

I see what he did there.

Jimenez has three years and nearly $39 million remaining on his contract and the Orioles haven't found any takers. Instead, they're hoping that a late adjustment in his delivery will yield more favorable results.

"I think probably the best things we can do is get him to throw strikes more consistently and that would be good for everybody," Duquette said.

It's too early to know how the Orioles would fit six starters on their pitching staff on opening day, but Duquette sounded as though he'd expect Kevin Gausman to remain in the rotation.

"Gausman is good," he said. "If you look at his peripherals, it looks like he's ready to have a breakout season as a starting pitcher. Low walks, high strikeouts, keeps the ball in the ballpark. He looks pretty good. His innings limit has been extended each year. He's right on schedule to have a good year."

The Orioles figure to make their yearly selection in the Rule 5 draft.

"We have looked at approximately 60 players across all the organizations for the draft," Duquette said. "We've looked at scouting reports, we've looked at video, we've looked at career performance records, we've looked at amateur scouting reports on certain players in some cases. So we've gone through the list very methodically and thoroughly.

"As we gather the information, it goes through a preliminary committee, they make some recommendations, and then it goes through a secondary committee and they make some recommendations and then we sit down and we talk about the finalists when we get here."

Candidates are ranked by how they fit on the ballclub and how they may impact it.

"That's what we consider in our meetings here just prior to the draft," Duquette said. "How is this player going to help the Orioles? How will they fit into the team? Because we want to draft him and we want him to play for our ballclub next year. It's a good process. Our guys do a good job with it.

"We're late in the draft this year, so we'll see, but we've done our work. We've done the work we need to do to be in position to draft a player."