O's, Hardy agree to extension

[love_that_reefer]

The Orioles and J.J. Hardy have agreed in principle to a three-year contract extension, reports Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun (all Twitter links). Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun says the deal is worth between $22-22.5MM and includes no-trade protection to eight teams. The Orioles also assured Hardy he will not be flipped at the deadline. It is still pending a physical, and some minor details must be finalized.

Yesterday we heard that the two sides were working towards a three-year pact worth $21-25MM, but no-trade protection was holding things up. The two sides had started contract talks late last month, but other clubs continued to express interest in acquiring him. Hardy, 28, is hitting .275/.333/.490 with 13 homers this year and was due to become a free agent after the season. He is represented by LSW Baseball, as our Agency Database shows.

Looks to be a good deal for the Orioles. Hardy has been having a great year and will be the bridge to Manny Machado. Hardy always comes with health issues but he won't be making that much more annually than he is now in his final year of arbitration. I like the deal and if Manny is ready for the show sooner than expected, Hardy's salary won't make it that hard for him to be traded.

[cjkalt]

Yea Machado isn't a lock to play SS in the majors either... he might move to 2nd or 3rd anyways

[Tobywan]

Good for him, he fits them and he's a fan favorite.

[love_that_reefer]

Yea Machado isn't a lock to play SS in the majors either... he might move to 2nd or 3rd anyways

His glove is about all he has going for him this year though he has battled injuries. I don't see him moving unless an injury forces him to. Lots of comparisons to ARod who we all know was a good SS.

[realmofotalk]

Think Minnesota would like a do-over on their trade of Hardy?

[Kingdom]

Or Milwaukee?

[Kingdom]

The curse of Carlos Gomez

[DiamondDave]

Good signing... even with the injury risk, the price seems to be a good one... but this team will still have to go the Tampa route in terms of proper coaching of stud minor league pitchers to have a solid 3 in the rotation, under age 30, before we can ever think about trying to be any sort of competition for BoSux or the YankMes

[cjkalt]

If they traded him now they'd get a boatload... Just sayin

[DiamondDave]

Trading him now really gains us nothing... his value is not something that is going to give us a top flight spect... his value to us will be the hopeful 125+ games a year he is on the field with #6 batting order potential and good D... even though he's frequently #1 or #2 in our BA, he's not really a good fit for there... most teams he would be batting in the bottom 1/3 of the order

[love_that_reefer]

Plus trading him would still have the O's looking for a SS next year.

[cjkalt]

Trading him now really gains us nothing... his value is not something that is going to give us a top flight spect... his value to us will be the hopeful 125+ games a year he is on the field with #6 batting order potential and good D... even though he's frequently #1 or #2 in our BA, he's not really a good fit for there... most teams he would be batting in the bottom 1/3 of the order

A player of his caliber locked into a below market deal... i think your kidding yourself... he could get you a top flight spec from the right team...

And LTR, who cares if they need a SS they aren't going anywhere soon

[Tobywan]

who cares if they need a SS they aren't going anywhere soon

'dems fightin' words cj..........wonder if that was what Papi said to Gregg last week....PLUNK!

[love_that_reefer]

And LTR, who cares if they need a SS they aren't going anywhere soon

The Orioles care for one. It's one less thing the Orioles have to worry about in the offseason (or over the next two offseasons) as they are going to have a lot of holes to fill. They just filled one without spending a lot of money and found the perfect bridge to Machado. I'd say that's a win regardless if they are contending or not. Every GM wants less holes to fill going into the offseason.

[cjkalt]

Disagree they should be building the way of the Pirates and Rays and not buy spending money on the MLB club