Baltimore Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette was named Sporting News' 2014 MLB Executive of the Year on Monday.
The club's official Twitter account congratulated Duquette on the award, which was announced at the annual general manager meetings in Phoenix:
MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez explained the voting process and the other worthy candidates who merited the most consideration:
Sporting News' Jesse Spector added a notable anecdote from what Duquette had to say upon receiving the accolade:
Duquette built a Baltimore roster that was able to endure key injuries and losses throughout the 2014 MLB season to win the American League East division with a 96-66 record.
Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun offered some unique insight on Duquette's tenure:
The Orioles' playoff run came to an abrupt halt when they were swept by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series, but the team did well to make it that far. None of those four games were decided by more than two runs.
If Baltimore's stingy bullpen and its penchant for the home run (211 HRs led MLB this season) can continue into 2015, it should enjoy another successful year under manager Buck Showalter.
However, Duquette can't rest on his newly minted laurels for too long because he has nine free agents set to hit the open market this winter. Nelson Cruz, who hit 40 homers this last season, is one of them after declining a one-year qualifying offer, per MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli.
A lot of the team's success likely falls on how well Duquette can keep the Orioles' current nucleus together on top of whatever additions he pursues in the offseason.
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