Orioles had face to face meeting with JJ Hardy representative 3-4 days ago regarding extension

[Frobby]

I just don't understand the desire to extend Hardy

He is on the wrong side of 30

His offense is based on bat speed, the ability to pull the inside pitch for HR's

He is already a low average, low OBP hitter.

Although healthy lately he has a history of injury, and is always dealing with a sore shoulder/elbow. ( I bet he quietly led the team in cortisone shots last year).

We have our SS of the future (Machado) and may have our 3B of the future (Schoop) on the roster right now.

Just feels like if we give him a 3-4 year contract it will be Brian Roberts 2.0 (except when they signed BRob he was a much better player than Hardy).

Is Hardy planning to screw up his career by hitting himself over the head with a baseball bat? The "wrong side of 30" argument gets too much play around here IMO. We are talking about ages 32-34, maybe age 35 if we have to go there. That's not that old. Sure he will decline some, but he is way above average now and will be so for another couple of years in all likelihood.

[Redskins Rick]

I just don't understand the desire to extend Hardy

He is on the wrong side of 30

His offense is based on bat speed, the ability to pull the inside pitch for HR's

He is already a low average, low OBP hitter.

Although healthy lately he has a history of injury, and is always dealing with a sore shoulder/elbow. ( I bet he quietly led the team in cortisone shots last year).

We have our SS of the future (Machado) and may have our 3B of the future (Schoop) on the roster right now.

Just feels like if we give him a 3-4 year contract it will be Brian Roberts 2.0 (except when they signed BRob he was a much better player than Hardy).

You don't have to bring up B-Rob on every conversation he is gone, and no he wasn't a much better player than Hardy.

I think this could be disputed. Hardy is one of the top 3 defensive SS in baseball and a very important clog to this defense.

He isn't Ripken with the bat, nor he is Ballenger either. He has pop and an ability to hit in the clutch.

Snide comments about cortisone shots is snarky and you know it. Give the guy credit and stop being such a nay sayer.

Schoop hasn't shown himself to be major league ready, yet.

[Redskins Rick]

When you have the best shortstop in the AL East, you try to keep the best shortstop in the AL East. It's really just that simple for me.

Ditto.

[Can_of_corn]

When you have the best shortstop in the AL East, you try to keep the best shortstop in the AL East. It's really just that simple for me.

The best shortstop in the AL East is playing third.

[Redskins Rick]

The best shortstop in the AL East is playing third.

Most likely, but since he hasn't played SS at the major league level, not sure, you can crown him.

[Tx Oriole]

The best shortstop in the AL East is playing third.

Not in my mind.

[oriole]

I'm hoping for an extension...I love the defense on this team and Hardy is a big part of that. Having said that, a team friendly deal is really important. Players will be getting more expensive soon...Jones, Machado, Tillman, Gonzalez, Jimenez...eventually as those contracts swell the excess players (Hardy, Markakis, Davis, Wieters) become more difficult to keep. Hopefully both Hardy and Markakis are able to take team friendly contracts and provide value from that.

[Aglets]

So in his 3 seasons in Baltimore so far, Hardy has been a 4 WAR, 3 WAR, and a 4 WAR player (bb-ref).

Will we be willing to go as high as $15M per for an extension? Seems like hardy would be justified in asking for as high as 17 or 18.

Would you guys do 3 / $45M? Seems like that is a 'fair' starting point based on the numbers.

[webbrick2010]

I would hope that he has another solid year this year.

Make the QO

If he accepts great you have him for the 2015 season.

If not we get a first round pick.

I think his defense will decline gradually, I think his offense will be below replacement level in the next couple years.

His OPS+ in 2012 was 81, and rebounded to 97 last year.

Split the difference and say he has an OPS+ of 88 over a 3-4 year extension for 15M/yr??

Is that good value??? I don't think so.

Need to sign Davis & Tillman before extending Hardy.

[MrOrange82]

The best shortstop in the AL East is playing third.

OK...so the Orioles have the best left-side of the infield in the AL East...if not the American League...and that's an issue?

[mcgraw238]

I would go 4/48 for Hardy and I think he seriously considers it. He can get more as a FA but I think he prefers to stay put and play for Buck.

[Os84]

I don't know why everyone keeps saying that a 3-year deal should get it done. I highly doubt Hardy takes anything less than what Peralta got from the Cardinals. Quite frankly, I don't think he should either.

[OFFNY]

.

I intially thought that we should extend Davis first, and then perhaps Hardy and/or Wieters might each extend at a little less than what they would get on the open market due to a sort of domino effect of wanting to stay with the Orioles (a young, mid-market, upstart team with 2 consecutive winning seasons already under their belt being able to challenge the ultra-high payroll Yankees and Red Sox, and the fact that we already have Adam Jones and Unbaldo Jimenez locked up through the 2018 and 2017 seasons, respectively.)

But upon further review, if we lock up Hardy first, we may get that same benefit (Davis and/or Wieters perhaps be willing to sign extensions for a little less than what they might draw on the open market for the same reasons that I explained above.) In fact, it might be better to extend Hardy first, because a slight discount on a Chris Davis long-term contract would probably be better and more cost-effective than a slight discount on a J.J. Hardy long-term contract.

I really like what the last 2 Orioles GM's (MacPhail and Duquette) have done overall, and most of the time, they both know/knew what they were doing more than I thought that I knew. I was initially against the Bedard trade back in February of 2008, and am now very glad that it wasn't my decision. The same can be said in respect to several of Duquette's moves, as compared to what I was thinking.

[srock]

I just don't understand the desire to extend Hardy

He is on the wrong side of 30

His offense is based on bat speed, the ability to pull the inside pitch for HR's

He is already a low average, low OBP hitter.

Although healthy lately he has a history of injury, and is always dealing with a sore shoulder/elbow. ( I bet he quietly led the team in cortisone shots last year).

We have our SS of the future (Machado) and may have our 3B of the future (Schoop) on the roster right now.

Just feels like if we give him a 3-4 year contract it will be Brian Roberts 2.0 (except when they signed BRob he was a much better player than Hardy).

I really want to disagree with you on this. Because I really like JJ Hardy. My 7 month old son is named JJ!

But these are all valid points. It probably makes business sense for the Orioles to make in a QO and if he takes it, great, he should be worth $15 million year. But its pretty risky he will be worth 4/50.

On the other hand if the MFY sign him next year I'm going to furious and not care one once about the fiscal realities of signing a 30 year old short stop to a 4 or 5 or even 6 year deal.

[TonySoprano]

And Hardy told ESPN.com on Monday morning that he planned to meet with his agent in the next 24 hours to discuss where they go from here.

"I don't know how that will all play out," Hardy said. "We'll see. I'm actually going to meet with my agent. And we're going to talk a little bit about what could happen. And he'll kind of fill me in … because I don't really know much.

"We've talked about all the different options, about what could happen -- other possible teams that might be looking for shortstops. There's so much that goes into it. And I'm not all caught up to speed."

Those teams could include the Dodgers (depending on their contract talks with Hanley Ramirez and on just-signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarruena), the Phillies (depending on whether Jimmy Rollins vests his 2015 option) and the Indians (depending on the progress of top prospect Francisco Lindor). And of course, there are the Yankees -- of whom Hardy quipped: "I heard their shortstop's retiring or something."

But Hardy, who turns 32 in August, has made it clear that if the stars and dollar signs line up right, he'd prefer to stay right where he is -- in Baltimore.

"I'll say, and I've said it a lot, that I've really enjoyed my time here," he said. "I like playing here. I like the guys. I like the manager. I like the coaches. There are a lot of things that make me happy. So I definitely like it here. But we'll see what happens."

Hardy and outfielder Nick Markakis are the two most prominent members of the Orioles' position-player core who could be free agents next winter. And two Scott Boras clients, catcher Matt Wieters and first baseman Chris Davis, are two years away. So Hardy understands why people keep saying and writing why the Orioles' window to win is now.

"When you look at it like that, you can see it how you want," Hardy said. "But they've got Manny [Machado] for another five, six years. The pitchers are young, so they'll be around. … So I guess you could think that window with these guys in this clubhouse right now could be closing. But it doesn't necessarily mean the window is closing for the whole organization."

After a winter so quiet that it won them our not-so-coveted Most Unimproved Team in the American League award, they've sure picked up the pace since they arrived in Sarasota. And you could argue that by doing it this way, they've energized their clubhouse even more than if they'd signed all these guys two months ago.

"Maybe that was their strategy," Hardy deadpanned. "If it was, they definitely added excitement. Whether that was what they had in mind, or that was their plan, it's worked. I'll say that. They're playing it out brilliantly."

source - Jayson Stark