Os have considered extending JJ Hardy.

[Ripken]

Orioles: Offseason "exploring the options" champions.

[Bradysburns]

What aren't we considering? Bringing Ryan Kohlmeier back to close? Seeing if Brady still has it in LF? Calling up Jose Mercedes to be the 5th stater?

No offense to Jose Mercedes... but I just threw up in my mouth a little thinking about that era of O's baseball.

[Bradysburns]

Orioles: Offseason "exploring the options" champions.

The Orioles were already masters at percolation and reallocation. Fact is, we have not signed a truly exciting free agent for nearly a decade. I'm thinking Miguel Tejada was the last inspired signing. (And he worked out pretty darned well.) There's something wrong with that... like... when you look back, a decade has passed. And the same chestnuts reverberate all around Baltimore, over and over... year after year...

- "Signing expensive free agents just to sign them is stupid."

- "Yeah, great idea. Let's just buy a team instead of building it the right way. Look how that's worked out for [insert name of crappy team full of high-priced free agents here]."

- "You should only sign an elite FA when you are one or two players away from competing for the pennant."

- "This is a particularly weak free agent class for [insert Orioles position of need here]."

- And the most defeatist line of them all: "We're competing for free agents with Confederate money."

The list goes on. At some point, I honestly wish they would make a major signing - and take the risk required. Just make sure it's the right guy - talent-wise and personality-wise. And make sure he's young enough to grow with Jones and company over the next few years. But for cryingoutloud, I'm starting to agree with the anti-Angelos folks who think he's either incompetent in the extreme, or greedy in the extreme. How could you argue for anything but those two options if we don't make significant and possibly expensive improvements to the roster this offseason?

[crawjo]

The list goes on. At some point, I honestly wish they would make a major signing - and take the risk required. Just make sure it's the right guy - talent-wise and personality-wise. And make sure he's young enough to grow with Jones and company over the next few years. But for cryingoutloud, I'm starting to agree with the anti-Angelos folks who think he's either incompetent in the extreme, or greedy in the extreme. How could you argue for anything but those two options if we don't make significant and possibly expensive improvements to the roster this offseason?

There are very few "right guys" on the FA market. "Young enough to grow with Jones and company" means under 30, yes? Who have been the big ticket free agents younger than 30 in recent years? Just about everybody available this year was on the wrong side of 30. Ellsbury, Choo, Cano, etc. All those guys are too old to meet your definition. Maybe Prince Fielder? Mark Teixeira? Neither of those contracts look that great right now.

What has happened in the last decade is that teams are becoming much more aggressive about locking up the best players long term, before they ever reach FA. This is why every year the big money teams chase aging players with bad contracts: Pujols, Hamilton, Werth, Ellsbury, etc. If the Orioles are priced out of that market it is probably for the best.

What the Orioles need to do is to draft and trade for young talent, and then pick the right players to sign to long-term deals. The most important decisions the team has to make this year are not which overrated veteran they give a lot of money to, but rather whether, and for how much, they lock up any of their own guys (Davis, Wieters, Hardy, and down the road, Machado).

[SteveO]

There are very few "right guys" on the FA market. "Young enough to grow with Jones and company" means under 30, yes? Who have been the big ticket free agents younger than 30 in recent years? Just about everybody available this year was on the wrong side of 30. Ellsbury, Choo, Cano, etc. All those guys are too old to meet your definition. Maybe Prince Fielder? Mark Teixeira? Neither of those contracts look that great right now.

What has happened in the last decade is that teams are becoming much more aggressive about locking up the best players long term, before they ever reach FA. This is why every year the big money teams chase aging players with bad contracts: Pujols, Hamilton, Werth, Ellsbury, etc. If the Orioles are priced out of that market it is probably for the best.

What the Orioles need to do is to draft and trade for young talent, and then pick the right players to sign to long-term deals. The most important decisions the team has to make this year are not which overrated veteran they give a lot of money to, but rather whether, and for how much, they lock up any of their own guys (Davis, Wieters, Hardy, and down the road, Machado).

Your right that its for the best the O's are priced out of that Pujols, Hamilton, Ellsbury type market. They are bad deals offered by teams that can afford to absorb the future losses that will come.

There are very few "right guys" but then again something is better than nothing which is essentially what we have in place at several key spots and have added since our GM told us what he perceived the needs as.

The deals/money for the big boy FA are rarely good ones. That said I have to believe there is a happy medium somewhere between Hamilton and say ....Lew Ford or Steve Pearce

[SteveO]

Me too..solid player, clubhouse leader...getting old but deserves the extension.

In a world were the Orioles have the payroll they should I would 1000% agree.

In a world were the Orioles live on a limited budget giving 10 million a year over 3 years to Hardy or more when that money could be spent on pitching seems like a unwise use of resources. I love JJ but if this team is going to live on a budget then tough decisions have to be made.

I would have no problem with a JJ extension just so long as it does not come at the expense of investing what resources we have to in order to improve the pitching staff now and moving forward

[25 Nuggets]

J.J. Hardy reminds me of Mike Bordick with more power... and Bordy did just fine until he retired at age 37. In fact he averaged 2.3 rWAR per season after age 30. Hardy could end up a career 40 WAR player.

I would be very happy with an extension, letting Machado stay at 3B. Even at $10 mil per. That's only $3 mil over what he's getting now.

[PeteU]

While I had thought that Hardy would be prime leverage on a deal for a top of the line player, I've become more and more convinced that's never going to happen.

So why not? He's a valuable contributor to the team, and not that old. I think he still has several potential all-star seasons in him. And I like him. Loved his double in Game 4 of the 2012 ALDS that kept us alive. And he has bar none the coolest walk-up song in the team.

[theocean]

I feel like the majority of the posters on this board would have some sort of problem if the O's built a time machine and brought back Babe Ruth in his prime and signed him.

JJ Hardy was the starting shortstop for the AL All-Star Team last year. He's a great teammate and a fan favorite. He's seriously underrated.

Why not sign him? Because he's a little over 30? So we can move Machado to SS and then try to find a decent third baseman - ultimately ending up signing someone a little over 30 to fill that gap?

Come on...

[sportsfan8703]

Hardy said something along the lines that he's been monitoring the market. Peralta got 4/53 coming off a PED suspension, no SS market really, and isn't nearly the GG defender JJ is. He's 3 months older than JJ. I think a JJ extension would start at 3/33 or 4/40.

[Guest]

Hardy said something along the lines that he's been monitoring the market. Peralta got 4/53 coming off a PED suspension, no SS market really, and isn't nearly the GG defender JJ is. He's 3 months older than JJ. I think a JJ extension would start at 3/33 or 4/40.

JJ is gonna want 14m a year.

[webbrick2010]

I bet a Hardy extension is already too expensive for the O's

Only reasonable thing to do is trade him now

What the O's will do:

Let him reach FA, decline to make a QO (because he has a down 2014 or injury issue), and get nothing in return

[mdbdotcom]

The single most important thing the O's could do right now is to move Manny to SS and lock him up. If he won't extend, keep him at 3B and assume he will walk at age 26. But if Manny is willing to extend, this team can't afford to extend Hardy.

[Redskins Rick]

The single most important thing the O's could do right now is to move Manny to SS and lock him up. If he won't extend, keep him at 3B and assume he will walk at age 26. But if Manny is willing to extend, this team can't afford to extend Hardy.

The team "COULD", but sadly you are right, Angelos would never allow it.

[TradeAngelos]

When making decisions on players like this you have to always say to yourself "What would Tampa do?" in this same situation. Because obviously we are following the Tampa model...or something.

In that case it is clear JJ should be traded, not extended to get max value out of the 95 marbles we have at our disposal now and in the future. Tough decisions have to be made, and this would be one of them.