Dan Duquette takes fans' questions at Camden Yards

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette took questions from the fans last night at Dempsey's Brew Pub during a benefit for the Babe Ruth Museum.

Here are some of the highlights from the nearly hour-long session.

On the departures of Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz:

"We tried to sign Nick and there were several times I thought we were going to close the deal, but we just couldn't quite get to closure on that. Nick had a nice career with the Orioles and was our longest-tenured player. Have a lot of respect for the way he posted for every game. Now we are not going to have Nick. But we are not without options.

"You have to take a look at what the risks are, the risk of performance and the risk of non-performance. When you are making the investments we are in these ballplayers, I've found to have the flexibility and a good farm system, that will help you have a good team year in and year out.

"Today, a lot of people are focusing on the exit, what we lost. But we didn't spend $90 million either. Not only do we have young players that are available to help the team, but we also have that money that we can invest.

"I knew we would have trouble signing Nelson Cruz after the Tigers gave Victor Martinez a four-year deal. He is 37 and nobody had received a contract for four years at that age. Once they did that, I knew it would be difficult to sign Cruz for a three-year deal. Nellie got a good deal. But there will be some other opportunities for us to address that DH role.

"We are not trying to win in December. Now if you spend $200 million dollars, you should be able to buy a few wins for your ballclub. We have some work to do and we'll do it with opportunities that we like that are cost-effective for our team.

"You can win the perception of having built your team in December and that helps, but we build our team year-round. And it's not always a high-profile signing. But I can tell you this. We have a good farm system. We have a good pitching staff coming back and good leadership in our manager and we are going to field a competitive team again."

On the process of hiring a new hitting coach:

"We're still working on the search for the hitting coach. We've done a few interviews and I think we'll do a couple at the Winter Meetings, too."

On extending a qualifying offer to Cruz, but not to Markakis:

"When we extended the qualifying offer to Nelson Cruz, we were willing to pay a one-year salary of $15.3 million. We took a look at the production of Cruz and based on the evaluation system which we use to value the production for our market and revenues, we decided that Cruz's production gave us a good opportunity to get a return on that $15.3 million. If we didn't make a qualifying offer to a player, then we weren't comfortable that we could get that kind of return on that investment."

On his expectations this year for Chris Davis:

"I like Chris Davis, I'm a big Davis fan. I've seen a lot of growth in him in his time here. He's got that left-handed power and can hit it out to the opposite field in this park. My hope is Chris will return to what he's established in his career for his capability to hit for average and power.

"I also joke with Chris that I gave him an extra $5,000 dollars in his contract for that relief appearance (at Boston). He said, 'You should have paid me for the win and the save.' He's a Scott Boras client. (laughter)

"I hope Chris comes back and has a good year. He's dedicated himself to having a good year. He's got a lot at stake. I believe in Chris."

On Steve Pearce:

"Billy Beane came up to me at the GM meetings. Billy tried to trade for Steve Pearce before we re-signed him. He said, 'Danny, if I was able to get Pearce, it might have been a little different in the postseason.' He said, 'Who do you think was your best player?' I said I know who you are going to say - Steve Pearce. 'Well, you could make that argument.' "

On Delmon Young:

"Delmon Young had a great year. Buck (Showalter) used him just perfect. What a great moment when he hit the first pitch against the Tigers and cleared the bases. That was so exciting. Delmon is very popular in the clubhouse. We've been talking to Delmon about a contract - he's a free agent also. We've got a dialogue going with him."

On Adam Jones tweeting "U don't want my opinion!!!!!!!!" after Markakis signed with Braves:

"I'll tell you, whether I consulted Jones or not, I got his opinion. (laughter) I think that is a natural reaction. Those personal relationships, they mean something. It takes a while to respond to change. That is a human reaction, which I understand."

On having six starters for five spots:

"I like having the depth to the starting pitching. We were fortunate to keep our pitchers healthy during the year. There's an art form to that. But I'm comfortable if we go into the season with all the starting pitchers we have."

Duquette left the crowd laughing last night in how he ended the session. Jim Hunter from MASN and Roch Kubatko from MASNsports.com were co-hosts for the event. In talking about the Winter Meetings coming up, Kubatko jokingly asked Duquette how much information from meeting with agents and other clubs he shares with the media.

"Well, before I put my head on the pillow, that is the last thought that I have," Duquette said as the crowd roared.