Amid reports of the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles finalizing a deal for executive Dan Duquette, a man tabbed "Mr. Baseball Canada" was feted in Vancouver while his bosses drew fire from local baseball stakeholders.
 
Paul Beeston, the Blue Jays president and chief executive officer, received two standing ovations and was moved to tears at an annual luncheon hosted by the Vancouver Canadians, a minor league affiliate of Canada's only major league team. Canadians co-owner Jake Kerr took the opportunity to blast Blue Jays ownership, Rogers Communications Inc., for its handling of a now very-public search to replace Beeston, the Jays first-ever employee hired in 1976.
 
Before a sold-out ballroom of 642 business leaders, Kerr placed the blame on Edward Rogers III, deputy chairman of Rogers Communications and the son of the company's late founder Ted. He quipped that later generations of the family lacked the business sense of their forerunners.
 
"I didn't mean to be rude to Rogers, and I've been a friend of the Rogers family for decades, but the issue for me here is one thing and one thing only: respect," Kerr told TSN 1040 after the luncheon. "Paul Beeston is Mr. Baseball Canada. There's nobody who doesn't know that.
 
"If it's time for him to retire and by the way, he fully intends to -- he's told me for years that 2015 is it – but he's got his group together and [general manager] Alex [Anthopoulos] and the boys have put together a team this year that they believe in.
 
"If it's time for him to go, well fine. Show him out with the proper degree of decorum and respect. I shouldn't pick on the Rogers people but they must be nuts."
 
Kerr and partner Jeff Mooney rekindled baseball on Canada's west coast in 2007, purchasing a short-season Single A club in the Northwest League, and refurbishing Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium. The club routinely plays before sold-out houses of 5,157, has been named Baseball America's top minor league franchise, and won three consecutive championships starting in 2011.
 
Current Jays such as pitchers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, who attended Friday's luncheon, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans, did bids in Vancouver while working their way up to the majors, and the franchise has become a western beachhead for the Jays' efforts to re-kindle their national brand.
 
When Canadians president Andy Dunn sung Beeston's praises to the audience inside the ballroom, saying nobody cares more about baseball in Canada, attendees rose to their feet and Beeston had tears in his eyes.
 
Kerr said the affiliation agreement with the Jays would not be threatened by a Beeston departure, but was clear that his "old friend" deserved a better fate then what has been transpiring since last month. The Jays reportedly tried to lure Chicago White Sox executive vice-president Ken Williams, who is an employee of owner Jerry Reinsdorf, one of Beeston's closest friends, separate from the pursuit of Duquette.
 
"You can't pick up the phone and call Jerry Reinsdorf's general manager and think that nobody will think that a little odd," Kerr said. "Reinsdorf and Beeston are [tight]. Nobody has provided a reasonable explanation for why they are doing this, and worst of all, Rogers hasn't had the balls to step up and take a position.
 
"So where is senior management and why hasn't somebody at least saying: 'This is what we are doing.'"
 
Anthopoulos was scheduled to appear in Vancouver but that was cancelled Thursday night. Beeston declined to comment when approached by TSN 1040 prior to the luncheon, other than to say he "wouldn't have missed" the event because the Canadians owners were "his guys."
 
When the affiliation between the two clubs was signed in 2011, Kerr said his longstanding relationships with Beeston and former Rogers executive Phil Lind played a major role in bringing the parties together. Lind, who retired as vice chair last year, and Kerr were fraternity brothers at the University of British Columbia.
 
"I've talked to Mr. Lind and Mr. Lind retired in November, and it's almost as if, no sooner had he gone out the door that all this started [with Beeston]," Kerr said on TSN 1040. "That's the best I've got. If someone from the other side would like to explain a little differently, go right ahead."
 
On Thursday, ESPN reported that the Jays and Orioles were close to a deal that would send Duquette, Baltimore's executive vice-president and a former Montreal Expos general manager, to Toronto for player compensation, possibly pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman, the ninth overall pick in last year's first-year player draft. A separate report this week from a Rogers-owned radio station said that Beeston would serve one more year with the Jays.
 
Under Beeston, who returned to the franchise in 2008 after serving 10 years as chief operating officer of Major League Baseball, the Jays revived their winter tour across Canada as a means to promote their team and win the hearts and television eyeballs of Canadian baseball fans. Since Toronto's last playoff appearance in 1993, during Beeston's first tour with Toronto, the Seattle Mariners have made in-roads in British Columbia, where their popularity rivals that of the Jays.
 
Thousands of western Canadians make the annual trip to Seattle to cheer on the Jays at Safeco Field, but the Mariners presence in B.C. is also strong. In fact, Mariners players, including pitcher James Paxton of Ladner, B.C., were also in Vancouver this week, visiting with media outlets and encouraging baseball fans to attend games in Seattle.
 
The Jays are also a promotional tool for Rogers Communications in western Canada, where they compete with other companies in the so-called "telecom wars."
 
It was unclear why Anthopoulos cancelled his Vancouver appearance at a late hour. A Canadians official said the general manager was scheduled to be in Newfoundland on Saturday and was only going to make a brief appearance in Vancouver anyways.
 
The Jays won consecutive World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 with Beeston at the helm, but have not been back to the playoffs since. It is currently the longest postseason drought in baseball.
 
"Let me be clear, we think the Blue Jays are a fabulous organization, and they will be after Paul Beeston," Kerr said. "So it's not like, if Dan Duquette or someone else comes, we think we're going anywhere else. We think the Canadian connection is right for us."