Duquette says there's "no offer on the table right now" for Davis

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette confirmed today at FanFest that the club has pulled its offer to first baseman Chris Davis.

Meeting with reporters on the third level of the Convention Center, Duquette indicated that an agreement remains a possibility and that negotiations could resume again later. However, he also spoke of the depth at first base within the organization and how the Orioles are more focused on finding a left-handed bat for the outfield.

The Orioles had a seven-year, $150 million offer on the table that I've heard included deferred money.

"I'm not exactly sure where that's going to end up, but we've been very aggressive on that front and that didn't yield a deal, so we're going to look at some other options," Duquette said. "I can tell you this: We're going to have a good ballclub either way and we'll have to find some left-handed hitters to staff our team and balance our lineup.

"There's no offer on the table right now. I'm not exactly sure what their timeframe is. From the club perspective, we'd like to have our roster in place if we can by Christmas. A lot of the building blocks we'd like to have in place, but it doesn't always work that way. We've got to look at some other options for left-handed hitting, which we're currently doing."

Asked to clarify whether the Orioles withdrew their offer, Duquette replied, "That's correct, yes."

"We're looking for some other options for left-handed hitting. We've been doing that all along and we're looking at that a little more aggressively," Duquette said.

"We have a couple of good first basemen in our minor league system. We have Christian Walker, who had a good year at Triple-A. And don't be fooled by those offensive stats at Norfolk. Even though we moved the (fences) in, it's still very, very challenging for a hitter to put up good numbers there. Of course, we have (Trey) Mancini, who had one of the best years of any first baseman in the minors. We've got two solid every day position prospects in our minor league system who will be knocking on the door in the majors next year. So, we've got pretty good depth at first base. And (Mark) Trumbo can play first base.

"That's not really that big of a concern. The left-handed hitting that we'd like to get to balance out the lineup, that's really what we're focused on."

Duquette wouldn't concede that the Orioles have totally moved on from Davis.

"No, I didn't say that," he said. "We'll have to wait and see how it plays out."

Duquette hasn't spoken to Davis. Everything funnels through agent Scott Boras.

Has he become frustrated?

"Every deal has its own timing and the timing is determined by a number of factors in the market," he replied. "Sometimes, you need patience and sometimes you have to move in other directions. The good thing for the Orioles is we've been able to add Trumbo, who's a solid power hitter. We've got (Matt) Wieters back. He's a qualified major league hitter with power from both sides of the plate. And we're returning (Adam) Jones and (Manny) Machado, and we've got (Jonathan) Schoop up the middle. Caleb Joseph. We've got some power up the middle to our lineup, but we could use some balance from the left side."

Boras waited until Jan. 26 to get Prince Fielder signed with the Tigers. The Orioles aren't expected to be that patient with Davis.

"I'm not really sure what the club's appetite is on the January deal, but we're going to proceed and staff our ballclub so that we have a good ballclub when we get to opening day. We're going to proceed down some other tracks right now," Duquette said.

It was suggested that the Orioles should have been more aggressive during the season to get a deal done.

"The issue on the in-season negotiations, we generally don't do that," Duquette said. "The players don't like to do that. It's a distraction. And the fans don't really want to focus on that during the season. If you're going to sign these guys, there is a short window, I think, during the season, but once they get to free agency, the market is what it is and I think that's what really drives the prices."

The Orioles tried to extend Manny Machado, but they apparently aren't planning on making another attempt this winter. The same goes for others on the club.

"No," Duquette said. "The thing with extensions is, there's a time to address those in the offseason and that's something that's under consideration, but we're not moving on any of those right now."

Still no announcement on Darren O'Day, who took his physical, but it should come on Monday.

"We just have one more item to get done on that contract. Hopefully, we can get that resolved here in the next couple of days," Duquette said.

"There's just one more item to close the book and be able to add the player. We're not quite there yet. We have a little bit more work to do on that and as soon as we get all our work done, hopefully we can announce the signing."

Duquette also was asked about the Cubs giving free agent outfielder Jason Heyward an eight-year, $184 million deal that included two opt-outs.

"I don't really understand those contracts that have outs, because if the players don't perform well, it's not like they're returning the huge sums of money they're getting. But if they do well, they're allowed to become free agents. I just don't really understand that type of structure," Duquette said.

"That kind of structure wouldn't work for the Orioles. I know that."