Orioles approached about Stubbs, Duquette on MLB Network Radio

SAN DIEGO - The Orioles are in the market for at least one outfielder and have been approached by the Rockies to gauge their interest in Drew Stubbs, according to a source.

The Rockies would want pitching in return.

Stubbs, 30, batted .289/.339/.482 with 22 doubles, four triples, 15 home runs and 43 RBIs in 132 games. He made $4.1 million this season and is entering his final year of arbitration-eligibility before becoming a free agent.

Stubbs is a career .246/.315/.396 hitter in six major league seasons, the first four spent with the Reds.

Executive vice president Dan Duquette, appearing on MLB Network Radio this afternoon, noted how outfielders available in trades are "a little bit too pricey for the Orioles" in terms of salary and what the club would need to relinquish.

"I don't know if that's an option," he said. "I think more along the lines of some of the free agent players.

"It's hard to pay a top salary when you give up talent. That's a double whammy. I don't know how you pay the money and give up the talent. I can see paying the money. A lot of teams can do that. But to pay the money and give the talent, that doesn't make a lot of sense."

Duquette didn't deny that the Orioles are in on free agent outfielder Melky Cabrera.

"He's a little younger than those other guys," Duquette said. "He's had some really good years. He's played some good games against the Orioles. He is younger than those other guys."

Duquette repeated that the Orioles are trying to add depth to their outfield and bullpen, and they want another catcher in case Matt Wieters isn't ready for opening day.

"We are going to be active," he said.

"We need outfielders who can hit and also play defense. We also probably need catching depth. Matt Wieters is coming back from Tommy John surgery and he's on schedule to be ready to play, but he didn't have the surgery until late in May, so there's a chance that he may not be ready to start the season. I'm hoping that he will be, but in any case we're going to need more catching."

Chris Davis could move to right field, with Steve Pearce playing first base. That's one scenario. Otherwise, Pearce could earn a spot in the outfield and Davis could remain at first.

"I believe in Chris Davis," Duquette said. "I believe that he'll come back even better, I believe he'll make more contact and you'll see a much better ballplayer (next) year than you saw in 2014. This guy's a great athlete and I think he's going to come back and you're going to see a lot of the form that made him very successful in 2013.

"We know that Pearce and Davis can both play the outfield. Davis' arm was a good asset in right when (Nick) Markakis got hurt in 2012 and Chris had to go to the outfield. He has that kind of athleticism. That's good when you have these athletes who can play these positions well. Pearce can play left, he can play right and he also can play first.

"Davis made a lot of progress at first and I think Buck (Showalter) is more inclined to keep him at first, but you never know. It depends what the team needs."

Duquette also said he expects pitcher Dylan Bundy to be ready to help the Orioles "later on during the season once he gets some more seasoning." Bundy and Kevin Gausman are popular targets of rival executives trying to swing a trade.

Duquette barely sat down before being asked about reports that the Blue Jays consider him a top candidate to replace longtime CEO Paul Beeston.

"I'm with the Orioles, OK?" he said. "I'm here to represent the Orioles at the meetings and I don't really have anything to add other than that. These rumors, they come up in the industry all the time and I don't spend a lot of time speculating on the rumors and I'm not in a position to do that here, either.

"We have a good thing going in Baltimore. I enjoy working with Buck and we've been able to build a solid organization and field a competitive team, and that's the name of the game."

Told that managing partner Peter G. Angelos expects Duquette to honor the last four years of his contract and stay beyond its expiration, Duquette replied, "That's good to hear and I do have a contract and I always honor my contract. I appreciate the interest and I don't have anything else to add."

Asked whether Duquette would approach Angelos about getting out of his contract if he wanted to be the Blue Jays' CEO, Duquette replied, "The good thing is that baseball's always interesting and there's always a lot of opportunities and if you do a good job, the opportunities follow you."

Approached by a few members of the local media after the interview, Duquette still declined to talk about the Jays and said, "I'm here to represent the Orioles."