Leftovers for breakfast

The general managers' meetings conclude today in Phoenix and it's doubtful that any team will trump the Tigers' signing of free agent Victor Martinez to a four-year, $68 million deal.

Martinez turns 36 in December. Nelson Cruz turns 35 in July and he wants a five-year deal.

Four years may not be out of the question, but it's not likely to come from the Orioles. They just aren't comfortable going beyond three years for Cruz. I won't bore you with all the reasons again.

Executive vice president Dan Duquette has stayed busy this week.

"We met with some teams on trade options and just got done with three or four meetings," Duquette said yesterday afternoon during a phone interview. "We had a couple this morning and a couple after lunch, seeing who we match up with."

Duquette is taking a lot of pride in the Orioles' back-to-back awards this week. Duquette was named Major League Baseball Executive of the Year by Sporting News and Buck Showalter was chosen as American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"The organization had a good year and the story of our team was that it really came together around June 1," Duquette said. "We've been trying to build a pitching staff for a couple of years and it came together around June 1, but there was a lot of work that went into replacing (Matt) Wieters. Everybody worked to get the job done and we kept acquiring players during the year, but we had enough depth to withstand some major injuries and then we had a chance to play for the pennant.

"We have a good culture. Mr. (Peter) Angelos has been very supportive every step of the way, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. And Buck is a real pro. He's a complete manager.

"Our players had some good years. Cruz had a good year, (Adam) Jones had another good year, and Nick (Markakis) is steady. (J.J.) Hardy had a good year. And on we go.

"The Orioles are a good organization and I'm grateful for the chance to be with them. I'm happy to work with Buck and the Angelos family. And the fans are supporting the team. They like the team, they're connected with the team. We have winning baseball in Baltimore."

Duquette said he was "humbled" to win an award previously given to former Orioles executives Roland Hemond, Hank Peters and his mentor, Harry Dalton.

"Personally, when I think back on it, I really applied the same principles that Harry taught me in Milwaukee to field a competitive and contending team," Duquette said. "The structure of the team in Baltimore, that was what I said I'd attempt to do when I signed here."

During his appearance yesterday on MLB Network, Duquette talked about what went wrong for the Orioles in the Championship Series.

"Well, we didn't play a complete game," he said. "We didn't catch the ball, we didn't pitch and we didn't hit like we did during the regular season. Especially our pitching the first couple of games I thought cost us the series, because we had a chance at home to win both of those games and we lost them in the ninth and extra innings, and I think that was the result of not having good, solid pitching and having to play a complete game. Of course, you've got to play a complete game to win the playoffs.

"We could have turned the whole series around if we could have won that first game at home, but again, we didn't execute. We had them on the ropes. We didn't get a base hit. And then our guys did not keep the ball in the ballpark in extra innings in Game 1.

"We had a chance in Game 2 where we could have scored some runs and gotten over the hump, but we didn't do that. And then we gave up a scratch run there in the ninth. The whole game plan against the Royals was to score early and to get a lead, because they had the best bullpen in the league, and we weren't able to do that."

Awards are nice, but they don't replace titles.

"I know everybody who's in baseball would trade the individual honors for the championships," Duquette said, "and that's something that I'm still chasing."

I'll stop shooting down the Billy Butler rumor. I've done it twice already.

It never made sense. The Orioles are trying to re-sign Cruz and again would divide his starts between left field and designated hitter. Butler would be a full-time DH. Why would the Orioles make him a three-year offer and still want to bring back Cruz?

There was no three-year, $30 million offer made to Butler. And now I'm really done addressing it.

As for reports that the Orioles are listening on Ubaldo Jimenez, you better believe it. He's not untouchable and they'll naturally engage in talks if they sense possible interest from another club.

The trick is moving his contract without having to eat most of the money on it.

Six starters for five spots. The math hasn't changed. Neither has the Orioles' willingness to make a trade.

The Indians' Corey Kluber was named the American League Cy Young Award winner last night. The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw was a unanimous winner in the National League.

According to the Sporting News, this is the first time that the two Cy Young winners have the same initials.

None of the Orioles received votes. I wasn't sure about 16-game winner Wei-Yin Chen.

The Orioles sent scouts to Guatemala yesterday to watch switch-hitting Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada's showcase. They believe that Moncada will be a future All-Star in the majors.

I'm told that 27 teams were present for the showcase, and that Moncada was much better hitting from the left side. Also, he projects as a second baseman. Below-average arm and average glove, but a bat that will play in the majors.

A scout told me that Moncada would be a first-rounder if he were in college.

"He'll get his money for his bat," the scout said.

The Orioles have been scouting power-hitting Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas, 23, for two years and they like him even more than Moncada. However, he's projected to exceed the $72.5 million deal that Rusney Castillo received from the Red Sox.