Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette prior to Saturday's game against the Rays met with season-ticket holders for a half-hour as part of a "State of the Orioles" event and signaled the team is going “full force into a rebuild,” according to Jon Meoli of the BALTIMORE SUN. Duquette "elaborated on the plans" he has for the team after trading SS Manny Machado and Ps Zach Britton and Brad Brach. He said, "We have taken a step back. ... We're redirecting those resources into our scouting operation, into our recruiting, into our player development. We're going to be active on the international recruiting market. We're going to be active in more technology and facilities, in our training program. So hopefully these investments will help us develop more and better players, so we can be competitive against the good teams." Duquette said that going forward, the Orioles will "invest enough to develop a competitive major league team," with the expectation that the club would "take the payroll down next year and the year after, and reinvest those resources in younger ballplayers." The team entering play tonight has the worst record in MLB at 32-74 (BALTIMORE SUN, 7/29).
