Dan Duquette staying with Orioles; Blue Jays CEO won't be replaced after all

Over the weekend, a crazy-sounding rumor surfaced that the Blue Jays would be replacing their CEO and Orioles GM Dan Duquette was one of the candidates. It was enough to bring Peter Angelos out into the open to say that the O's wouldn't be relinquishing Duquette. Buck Showalter said he didn't think Duquette would go anywhere. Duquette, for his part, emphasized that he was here to put together the best Orioles team he possibly could.

On Tuesday, the Blue Jays were set to announce that their existing CEO, Paul Beeston, would be remaining for at least one more season. There isn't even going to be a job opening for which Duquette might possibly be targeted after all.

So why did we all spend the weekend pontificating about what might or might not happen with Duquette, what might possibly be the motivation for the news leaking and so on? Why, indeed. The offseason is boring enough that you can get caught in a flight of fancy. None of us are immune to a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The anatomy of it all is still something that would be interesting to know. Who was responsible for the story first hitting the press? What was that person's motivation for doing so? What kinds of conversations took place behind the scenes among the Orioles' principals about the rumor? If it was always destined to be nothing, why did Angelos feel the need to come forward with a full-throated statement about Duquette remaining with the Orioles?

At least one person knows the answer to each of these questions, but now that the matter is settled, they probably won't be talking any more. Unless this topic comes up again a year from now, we'll never know what it was all about. Here's hoping this is the last we have to hear about it.