Nick Markakis and the 40 man

Does anyone else but me think that the O's haven't signed Nick Markakis yet because they are waiting until after the Rule V draft to do so, that way they have two extra 40 man spots - Chris Davis' and Nick Markakis'?

I could be wrong, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me if Nick and the O's actually have mostly come to an arrangement, that they just haven't ironed out the details and signed yet, and Nick is okay with that as it not only helps his team, but gives him another 2 weeks for some other team to decide they want him and give a better offer that he could then take back to the O's in order to get a little more.

This strikes me as unrealistically charitable to Markakis. I know and agree he likes playing for Baltimore, but he doesn't own stock in the Orioles... does he?

Saving a roster spot now really doesn't help them, as they would have to put someone through waivers to take them off. Another team could then take that player without restrictive Rule V rules attached.

Does anyone else but me think that the O's haven't signed Nick Markakis yet because they are waiting until after the Rule V draft to do so, that way they have two extra 40 man spots - Chris Davis' and Nick Markakis'?

I could be wrong, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me if Nick and the O's actually have mostly come to an arrangement, that they just haven't ironed out the details and signed yet, and Nick is okay with that as it not only helps his team, but gives him another 2 weeks for some other team to decide they want him and give a better offer that he could then take back to the O's in order to get a little more.

Not signing Nick cause he's not worth what he's asking.

I think the O's are offering Nick less than he wants. He is waiting out the market for other players to sign. Then he will get his best offer from other team(s) and bring it back to the O's to match. If the O's don't match the offer he will have to decide which team to sign with. The O's or the other team.

I don't think roster management has anything to do with it. JMO.

There are several slots on the 40-man roster that are currently taken by players who will be DFA'ed in the next few months. If they wanted more room on the roster, they could make room quite easily.

Yes. And Duquette, wisely, I hope, is not afraid of losing him to a higher offer.

I feel that Dan has backup plans which he feels comfortable with if Nick requires more money than Dan Duquette feels is prudent.

Have we heard of one team with SERIOUS interest in Markakis?

No. Both the Mets and Blue Jays moved on. And the Yankees front office never showed real interest despite what the fan sites indicated.