Gold Glove right fielder Nick Markakis seems to be on the verge of signing a multi-year contract, but it might not be with his most current team, the Baltimore Orioles, who were the clear favorites to re-sign him early in the off-season.
Markakis will be entering the 2015 season at age 31. He provides great defense in right field and is a pretty consistent hitter as well with good ability to get on base. Last season Markakis had a .276 batting average with 15 home runs and 50 RBI’s, leading to a .729 OPS and a 2.1 WAR.
Let’s point out that Markakis has .290 career batting average, making him a very interesting option for many teams. He will also provide that veteran experience that is wanted in a team.
The Orioles appeared to be close to re-signing Markakis soon after the season ended, but they did not. We move forward to present day and ask ourselves, did the Orioles mess up by not signing him at that moment? They might have, and here is why.
Hanley Ramirez, Nelson Cruz, Yasmany Tomas, Victor Martinez, Pablo Sandoval, and now even Torii Hunter have already been signed and taken off the free agent market, that leads us to Nick Markakis, once most of the big name position players came off the board the interest for Markakis came way up.
Reports state that the Blue Jays, Giants, Braves and Orioles are the teams that are in the mix to sign Markakis, so Baltimore now has plenty of competition to sign him.
A player who went to school in Georgia, Markakis met with the Braves and there should be some mutual interest involved.
The Braves who already traded fan favorite Jason Heyward, might be sending a message with the interest of Nick Markakis, which is that either Justin Upton or Evan Gattis could be traded as well if they can sign Markakis.
Teams like the Blue Jays and the Giants could also use Markakis in their lineups, the Blue Jays especially could use him as a replacement for Melky Cabrera who is also a free agent.
The Orioles seem to be in a disadvantage to re-sign Markakis with other teams lurking. Markakis, unlike the other big name free agent outfielders like Yasmany Tomas and Hanley Ramirez, could come a lot cheaper. Look for him to get a contract of 3 or 4 years and around 30 or 40 million dollars.
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