Duquette quiet on trade speculation

He avoids commenting on rumors of Padres deals, defends O’s farm system

The Orioles held their midsummer “State of the Orioles” Q&A session for season-ticket holders in the blistering heat Saturday afternoon, but executive vice president Dan Duquette still had enough energy to dance around a couple of trade questions.

Rumors surfaced Friday night that the Orioles might be trying to work a deal that would send right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez and a prospect to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. There was also chatter about the Orioles perhaps making a play for Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner in a separate deal.

When a fan asked about those reports early in the session, Duquette replied, “What reports?”

Rather than comment on trade speculation, Duquette repeated what he has said on several occasions over the past couple of weeks: He intends to improve the major league club’s pitching depth, and he hopes to do it from both inside and outside the organization.

Duquette, who sat atop the visitors’ dugout alongside manager Buck Showalter before a sizable crowd of fans, took issue with a question about the quality of the Orioles farm system, which has regularly been rated poorly by minor league and scouting publications.

The people who rip the Orioles’ player development system, Duquette said, “are the same people who pick us last every year.”

Duquette also responded decisively to a fan who expressed dismay that the Orioles had traded highly regarded rotation prospect Eduardo Rodriguez to the Boston Red Sox during the 2014 division title run for short-timer Andrew Miller.

“Given the same opportunity, I think we’ll probably do it again,” Duquette said, “because that’s what we’re here to do … win the pennant.”

One young fan asked Showalter whether he would guarantee a World Series this year.

“That’s why we get up every morning,” Showalter said.