Markakis' Contract Renewed..Markakis annoyed

[Boy Howdy]

The Mets just renewed John Maine too, but he was grounded enough to take it well, saying something like 'how could I complain when the minimum MLB salary is more than most people will earn in their life?'

[NCRaven]

He has four more years under Oriole control. This will mean nothing in another year or two.

How many players with 2 years of service receive long term contracts? Probably none. And to say pay him his money when not one single person posting here knows how much Markakis and his people wanted is ridiculous. Given what AM was willing to do with Wieters and Arrieta, I doubt he was low balling Markakis. But, there is a deadline and they negotiated up to it. And, they can still work on a long term deal, this only affects this season.

[Why Not?]

I think Nick will survive. Hopefully he hasn't spent his 1.85 million signing bonus already.

[weams]

It tells nothing.

It tells that he would like mo money and that he will like mo money then. At the superstar level this is not about likes and dislikes. The MLBPA guidelines eschew discounts. If we put the right money on the table he'll be an Oriole.

[JTrea81]

He has four more years under Oriole control. This will mean nothing in another year or two.

How many players with 2 years of service receive long term contracts? Probably none. And to say pay him his money when not one single person posting here knows how much Markakis and his people wanted is ridiculous. Given what AM was willing to do with Wieters and Arrieta, I doubt he was low balling Markakis. But, there is a deadline and they negotiated up to it. And, they can still work on a long term deal, this only affects this season.

Troy Tulowitzki, Grady Siezmore, Jhonny Peralta to name a few. Tulowitzki's deal set the bar. Now every player wants that type of contract.

[andy c]

Markakis' contract renewed, no long term agreement. Sound familar? Mussina, Bedard, Roberts and soon to be Markakis. Where will it stop? Trading away your best players will not help build for the future. The team is not building around Markakis or any other player. They are only interested in keeping there payroll low, like the Marlins. Home grown talent is a joke, it comes down to the dollar. This team will never compete in th AL East. Intelligent management would negotiate now for less. Now they are willing to wait and pay more. How do you think the players, fans and media view this? Markakis must be at the top of the list with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Braves.This is what I meant by reading bewteen the lines.

[SoBo]

I'm sorry, but when I see guys like Markakis and Fielder complain about making the money that they will make this year, it really pisses me off. I like Markakis like the next guy, but come on! With out a doubt baseball players have the SWEETEST deal when compared to any other professional leagues in terms of their collective bargaining agreement (NBA a close 2nd). No salary cap, guaranteed contracts and arbitration. It doesn't get much better than that, imo. Yeah, so you have to "suck it up" for 5 years before you can cash in as an UFA. Now I can sympathize with Ryan Howard's plight to a certain degree, as he was blocked for a good 3 years of his prime earning years. And in a MLB rarity, he WON his arbitration hearing. But for guys like Fielder and Markakis to complain about not getting more money when they'll be cashing in as UFA well before the average MLB player really fires me up. If this "slight" keeps Markakis from signing here long term, that's fine, he can walk.

[Mackus]

Markakis' contract renewed, no long term agreement. Sound familar? Mussina, Bedard, Roberts and soon to be Markakis. Where will it stop? Trading away your best players will not help build for the future. The team is not building around Markakis or any other player. They are only interested in keeping there payroll low, like the Marlins. Home grown talent is a joke, it comes down to the dollar. This team will never compete in th AL East. Intelligent management would negotiate now for less. Now they are willing to wait and pay more. How do you think the players, fans and media view this? Markakis must be at the top of the list with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Braves.This is what I meant by reading bewteen the lines.

Freaking relax.

Its not like we're losing him after this year. He's here for 4 more years regardless of what we do. And you can pretty much guarantee that they'll talk about extending him after this season, if not sooner.

[Lucky Jim]

Markakis' contract renewed, no long term agreement. Sound familar? Mussina, Bedard, Roberts and soon to be Markakis. Where will it stop? Trading away your best players will not help build for the future. The team is not building around Markakis or any other player. They are only interested in keeping there payroll low, like the Marlins. Home grown talent is a joke, it comes down to the dollar. This team will never compete in th AL East. Intelligent management would negotiate now for less. Now they are willing to wait and pay more. How do you think the players, fans and media view this? Markakis must be at the top of the list with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Braves.This is what I meant by reading bewteen the lines.

Ur funny. Vary funny.

[JTrea81]

Markakis' contract renewed, no long term agreement. Sound familar? Mussina, Bedard, Roberts and soon to be Markakis. Where will it stop? Trading away your best players will not help build for the future. The team is not building around Markakis or any other player. They are only interested in keeping there payroll low, like the Marlins. Home grown talent is a joke, it comes down to the dollar. This team will never compete in th AL East. Intelligent management would negotiate now for less. Now they are willing to wait and pay more. How do you think the players, fans and media view this? Markakis must be at the top of the list with the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Braves.This is what I meant by reading bewteen the lines.

I think it's just the Orioles going along with MLB. You can bet MLB doesn't like all these long term deals given out to 2nd year or less players. The service system was put into place to keep salaries low for younger players. And now you see what happens when teams like Colorado and Cleveland buck the system. Players on other teams get upset when they are not offered the same deals. It's smart for the teams to lock up their players, but they are just creating a bigger problem by making the salaries esclate further for players that really have yet to prove themselves...

[davearm]

The problem is that even though Markakis is worth a million, the problem becomes then next year when he is arbitration eligible, the price tag goes up substantially if he gets a million this year. Therefore the money starts adding up year after year. The best thing would be to sign him through all the arbitration years and buy out a few years of his free agency. That's how the good teams like Cleveland keep their young guys happy. The Orioles? Different story!

Let's not pretend as though that's a magic formula. Teams get burned by contracts like this too.

How's Rocco Baldelli's deal working out for the Rays?

And I shudder to think where the Cubs would be now if they had given Prior $40 or $50 million after his second year (2003).

Heck the Red Sox gave Coco Crisp one of these deals, and now with 2/$11M left, he's an unwanted, overpaid 4th OF.

The Indians with Cliff Lee is yet another cautionary tale.

The odds are probably something like 90 or 95% against the team getting totally soaked on a deal like this (like the Cubs would have been). But why take a completely unnecessary 5 or 10% chance of getting soaked?

[Sports Guy]

Its a double edged sword with these young guys...They see a few select guys get these big guaranteed deals and feel they should too.

Most of the teams want to see these guys perform for another year or 2 before they pony up the cash.

However, the longer you wait, the more it will cost.

[screaminjj]

But, davearm, Markakis is the FUTURE!

Theres no possible way he will ever ever ever ever tank.

Cause yknow, hes the FUTURE!

MUSSINA, ROBERTS, ETC ETC ETCETCETC

[screaminjj]

I tell yah, the O's cant do anything right. They abide by league wide standards and they get hosed by the fan base, the act like the O's and, well they get hosed by the fan base. Not to mention losing 10+ years.

Let it ride man, see how it shakes out, Nick Markakis, regardless of how much i like the guy in an O's uniform, is no silver bullet.

[olehippi]

SG, i don't think is is a bad thing to do if the O's want to see more of him. IMO

What more do they have to see? Do you think the O's believe that the last 2 years have been an enigma of some kind and that Markakis will suddenly turn into Corey Patterson? From his comments...."I'll just have to deal with it"....it seems pretty obvious that Markakis is "disappointed" that the O's didn't work harder...if at all....to find common ground on more money or a long-term deal. To me, it sounds more like the O's FO still has their "injury fear" mentality.