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BALTIMORE - Dan Duquettes job description includes making trades that will help improve the Baltimore Orioles.This off-season, Duquette was in the middle of a potential blockbuster deal.Duquette, the Orioles president of baseball operations, acknowledged Saturday there was substance to reports that the Toronto Blue Jays were in pursuit of him to be club president.A lot of times, players will be a trade rumour and sometimes managers get traded, Duquette said. Its even more rare that executives get traded, but occasionally it happens. Its a unique experience. I think when you have a good team and you do well, people take notice.Under Duquettes guidance, the Orioles won 96 games last season, captured the AL East for the first time since 1997 and advanced to the AL Championship Series.That piqued Torontos interest.As you get better as an organization, things that youre doing are trying to be either emulated or acquired, Orioles manager Buck Showalter noted. Its inevitable as an organization that, as you get better, people are going to be coveted more.Because Duquette is under contract with Baltimore through 2018, the Blue Jays had to offer Baltimore ample compensation to secure his services.No deal was made, so Duquette was talking about Orioles baseball on Saturday at FanFest, the teams annual winter convention.He insisted that Torontos advances did not distract him from seeking to put a better club on the field in 2015.Its important for the Orioles fans to know that my focus — and my singular focus — is on improving the team, he said. We do that day by day, trade by trade, addition by addition. We did that this year in the off-season like weve done it in the past.With the exception of Duquettes potential departure, its been a quiet off-season for Baltimore. The losses include free agent outfielders Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, along with reliever Andrew Miller.The most notable addition is outfielder Travis Snider, obtained in a trade with Pittsburgh.But thats typical of Duquette, who followed a quiet winter in 2014 by adding Cruz and Ubaldo Jimenez during spring training.While its important to improve your ballclub in off-season, were not really trying to win the off-season, Duquette said. Were trying to put together a team that can compete and get to the off-season and prevail. Thats different from making headlines in the winter time.Showalter had absolutely no complaint about the teams off-season activity.As we get into spring and there comes a need, well be able to do it, he said.The Orioles played much of the 2014 season without injured stars Manny Machado and Matt Wieters. Having them in the lineup will make more of a difference than any trade or free agent addition.The biggest and most powerful improvement we have to our ballclub this year is Machado coming back and Wieters coming back, Duquette said.In other news, suspended slugger Chris Davis said Saturday his use of Adderall last season was not as a performance enhancer but rather a way to cope with an oblique injury that landed him on the disabled list and played havoc with his swing.It was never a baseball issue, he said. Just an everyday life thing.Davis was suspended for 25 games. The punishment will expire after opening day.I was just kind of overwhelmed with everything that was going on last year with the injury, he said. There were a lot of things that were taking my focus away from baseball.Davis said he had previously been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, which got him a green light from the independent administrator of Major League Baseballs drug program to use the drug in 2008.I had an exemption in the past. It was denied in 2013 and obviously, I shouldnt have been taking it last year, Davis said. It was a moment of weakness.After batting .286 with 53 homers and 138 RBIs in 2013, Davis numbers slipped dramatically in 2014 to .196 with 26 homers and 72 RBIs.This year, he expects things to be different.Being away from it a month longer than the rest of these guys was tough at first, but I used it to my advantage to get into my workouts a little bit earlier, Davis said. I definitely think last year got off to a slow start, so this year I wanted to get off on the right foot. Im doing some different workouts this year.He jokingly said that included bunting down the third-base line, a way to cope with the shift that limited his effectiveness. Laquon Treadwell Jersey . According to the Globe and Mail, a decision between the NHL and the Players Association should come within the six months. "I can tell you, (a decision) shouldnt take all that long," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Globe and Mail. Matt Wile Jersey . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. http://www.officialminnesotavikingsfootb...r-jersey-womens. Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. Custom Minnesota Vikings Jerseys .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player. Jarius Wright Jersey .Y. -- First, Ryan Miller. PHOENIX -- The son of a baseball Hall of Famer had the biggest game of his young pro basketball career, and the Dallas Mavericks probably wouldnt have won without him. Rookie Shane Larkin, son of Cincinnati Reds great Barry Larkin, scored a career-high 18 points, half of them in the final quarter, and the Mavericks held on to beat the Phoenix Suns 110-107 on Friday night. Larkin, the 18th overall draft pick out of Miami, scored six in the last 2:42, capped by a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds left. "Sometimes you think as a rookie that you dont want to mess up," he said. "You want to play smart, you dont want to do anything that the coach is uncomfortable (with). Tonight it was, Just go play. We need you to play and we need you to play well and do the things that you can do." Larkin was forced into extra duty when starting guard Jose Calderon hurt his knee in the first half. "Its the most minutes Ive played since college," he said. Larkin made 6 of 8 shots, including two of three 3-pointers and had five assists in 26 1/2 minutes. "Thats why we drafted him," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We felt like he could have this kind of impact." The Suns had a last chance to tie it when Vince Carter turned it over trying to inbound the ball after a basket by Phoenix with 6.7 seconds left. But P.J. Tuckers try from the corner rimmed out, and replays showed his foot was on the line so it would have been for two points, anyway. Monta Ellis scored 24 and Dirk Nowitzki 21 for the Mavericks, who never trailed. Shawn Marion scored eight of his 16 in the third quarter for Dallas. Goran Dragic scored 28 points, and Markieff Morris added 23, including 14 in the final quarter, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Morris twin brother Marcus scored 13 for the Suns, who have lost four of five. "We need to attack the basket more and we are in kind of a shooting slump right now," coach Jeff Hornacek said. "If you get those easy ones and now, all of a sudden,, you go outside and you get a few.dddddddddddd" Dallas led 104-94 after Larkins running 5-footer with 2:53 to go. Markieff Morris four-point play with 2:30 to go cut it to 103-98, but Nowitzki sank a 20-footer and it was 106-98 with 1:47 to go. Larkins two free throws put Dallas ahead 108-101 with 1:19 left, then Dragic led the Suns on a frenzied run. His driving layup, followed by his 5-footer cut the lead to 108-105 with 14.1 seconds to play. Larkins two free throws boosted it to 110-105 with 11.1 seconds to go. Dragic scored again inside to trim it to 110-107 with 6.7 seconds remaining, then Carter lost the ball and touched it again while he was trying to inbound it for a turnover giving the Suns one last chance. Dragic found Tucker for the open jumper, but it rolled around the rim and came out. "I was already celebrating," Tucker said, "because it did everything but go down." Television replays showed Tuckers foot was on 3-point line so it would not have tied the game anyway. Dallas shot out to a 23-12 lead on Nowitzkis 3-pointer and was up 44-34 after Larkins 3-pointer with 8:22 left in the half. Phoenix scored the next eight, cutting it to 44-42 on Markieff Morris length-of-the-court pass to Tucker for a layup. The Suns cut the lead to one three times in quarter, the last at 51-50 on Gerald Greens 3-pointer with 4:03 left in the half. Dallas led 58-56 at the break. The Suns briefly tied it on Dragics jumper to start the second half, then Dallas took off again. Marion and Carter each sank a 3 in a 9-2 run that gave the Mavericks their biggest lead, 84-72 with 2:28 left in the third quarter. Notes: The Suns were without Leandro Barbosa for the second game in a row because of a sore right shoulder. He is at the end of a 10-day contract and is expected to get another over the weekend. ... The Mavericks return home to face Portland on Saturday night. ... Dallas 36 points were the most Phoenix has allowed in the first quarter this season. ... Dallas has won 12 of 15 over the Suns. 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