What would be fair compensation for a new team president?

Despite Bob Elliott telling us that:

"Paul told the group, ‘I'm back next year, we're going to try to win this thing.' "

Buster Olney thinks the Jays should 'ante up' to get Dan Duquette (subscription required), saying that the Jays should set a new standard for compensation for taking executives who are under contract.

The compensation for the trade of non-uniform personnel in the major leagues has never been that much, with the most recent example being the relatively paltry return that the Red Sox received when Theo Epstein moved from Boston to the Cubs. The return was relief pitcher Chris Carpenter, who has pitched in a total of 18 games in the big leagues.

....Great baseball executives continue to be the most undervalued asset in an industry currently obsessed with identifying value.

I don't know, I have no idea how you should value front office personnel. Of course, Buster might have an alternative agenda here, trying to butter up Duquette and Orioles owner Peter Angelos can't hurt a writer who is looking for stories from these guys. The whole thing reads as Olney shilling for Angelos.

I love this bit:

But Orioles general manager Dan Duquette is a natural fit in so many ways, having served years ago in Canada as the general manager of the Montreal Expos, which is part of the reason the Jays' ownership reached out to the Orioles.

He's a natural fit in many ways.....but the only way he can list is that Duquette once worked in Canada. Why does it matter that he worked in Montreal? Does Buster think that Montreal and Toronto are the same city?  Doesn't it make more sense that Duquette is a good candidate because he worked in the AL East? That he's led a team to the top of a tough division? Why do we have to have to pretend that all Canadian cities are exactly the same? It just just seems so lazy.

Duquette would be a different sort of team president than Paul Beeston is, I'd imagine that Duquette would want to be far more hands on than Paul Beeston. I'd imagine that Alex Anthopoulos wouldn't be all that thrilled about that. Course then it is likely that Duquette would want to bring in someone that he'd like to work with.

Anyway, more from Buster:

But Toronto's interest in Duquette is serious enough that the Jays' ownership has been backed in its pursuit by the commissioner's office, which has encouraged the two sides to have a dialogue.

I don't understand why the commissioner's office would get involved in this. Why would the commissioner care who is running the Jays. Unless the new commissioner really is pissed off that Beeston backed someone else. That seems pretty childish.

And Buster gives his suggestion on who the Jays should give up to get Duquette:

The Orioles could ask for one or perhaps two of these players:

Marcus Stroman, the Jays' highly touted young pitcher who had a 3.65 ERA in 26 games last season; Aaron Sanchez, a relief pitcher who allowed just 14 hits in his first 33 innings in the big leagues last summer; Daniel Norris, a left-hander who advanced from Class A to the big leagues; Jeff Hoffman, the Jays' first-round pick in 2014; Max Pentecost, a 21-year-old catcher; or Richard Urena, a 19-year-old shortstop.

Ummmmm right.  If they gave up Stroman or Sanchez to get a team president, I've got to start following a different team.

I really don't know what would be fair payment.

If I'm the Orioles and Duquette wants to leave, then I'd want to get rid of him. I wouldn't want someone working for me that wanted to be somewhere else. If he wants to go, I'd get rid of him quick. Like Mr. Farrell. As much as a lot of people thought that we should get someone really good or say no to the Red Sox. Well, that doesn't work. Forcing someone to work for you? What is the value in that? Someone making everyone around them miserable. Talk about team chemistry troubles....now you would have toxic clubhouse. With Duquette, would you really want someone running your team who wanted to be somewhere else. I want a guy that's totally committed to me team.

I know Angelos doesn't want to weaken his bargaining position. He wants to come into any negotiations from a place of strength. He can't say 'hey, I want to get rid of this guy, you can have him.' He's gotta go with the line 'we expect him to live up to his contract', just the same as the Jays had to say much the same about Farrell.

What would you give up if you Jays? I guess it depends. If you really believe that Duquette is going to be the one that leads you back to the playoffs, then he's worth any player or group of players. Personally, I don't think one guy, even team president, makes that difference all by himself.

What I do believe is that, if Rogers was to go to the work of getting Duquette, then they will have to give him all the resources he needs to win. They would want to prove they picked the right guy. "See how smart we are".

I think this is the wrong time of year to make such a big change, but then, now that it's being talked about so much, Rogers should either get it done or come out and say 'Beeston is our man'. Don't leave Beeston twisting in the wind, it isn't fair to him. And stop the rest of the front office from wondering what is going to happen, 'am I still going to have a job?'

If it does happen, I'd guess that the Orioles will get a second tier prospect. Maybe someone like Dwight Smith Jr. or Miguel Castro.

What would you think would be fair compensation for Dan Duquette?