Baltimore Orioles general manager Dan Duquette doubled down on his comments regarding Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, saying Orioles fans wouldn’t identify with the then-free agent.
The Orioles GM had earlier this past off-season said he wouldn’t go after Bautista because Baltimore fans didn’t like him.
Duquette later walked back on those comments a bit, saying they were blown out of proportion.
He spoke with MLB.com on Tuesday and was asked how often he considered the fan reaction to a potential signing. His answer seemed to suggest that he feels the Orioles fans would prefer a “gritty”, “working-class-type” player as opposed to Bautista.
This is his answer in full:
[blockquote]”Well that was an easy one; our fans just don’t like Jose. We play those guys 25 times a year and he’s the face of the Blue Jays. He’s the villain in the play whenever we play the Blue Jays. I like our guys. Our guys are good. [Mark] Trumbo is like a working-class-type baseball player. If he was going to work every day on a construction site, you would understand that he brings that kind of work ethic every day. That’s the kind of player that our fans identify with. We try to get gritty players that work hard every day and give their best effort every day. Our fans seem to like that and respond to it.”[cite]– MLB.com[/cite][/blockquote]
