Wednesday’s O’verview: Hardy, Markakis want to stay in Baltimore

CRUZ SIGNING OFFICIAL

News broke last Saturday morning that the Orioles had agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $8 million with free agent outfielder/designated hitter Nelson Cruz. Cruz, 33, was formally signed on Monday after passing his physical, and the Orioles designated left handed pitcher Chris Jones for assignment to make room for Cruz on the 40-man roster.

Cruz brings a significant upgrade to the internal options the Orioles had at designated hitter, as he had 27 home runs and 76 RBI in just 109 games last season before serving a 50-game suspension for his connections to the Biogenesis scandal that surfaced last year. He also comes as a perceived steal, as the Rangers had offered him a one-year $14.1 million dollar deal earlier this offseason, and he was rumored to be looking for a deal north of four years and $50 million.

Cruz’s deal has incentives that allow him to earn up to an additional $750,000 based upon time on the active roster. He would earn an additional $150,000 each for 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 games spent on it. Cruz also can eventually name eight teams he cannot be traded to and has until March 15 to do so.

After current Orioles such as Nick Markakis and Chris Davis spoke out last season about PED users hurting the game, there appears to be no issue with them accepting Cruz now. Davis and Cruz played together previously in Texas, and Markakis said earlier this week, “He’s going to be welcome here and we are going to play as one. That’s for sure.”

BERRY/MATUSZ INJURY UPDATES

Outfielder Quintin Berry is scheduled to get an MRI to be sure that a recent back problem that caused him to stop his workouts early Monday is not anything serious. When asked about Berry’s back, Buck Showalter said, “I hope [it’s a minor problem]. We’ll see. He went down pretty good there.”

Berry has no previous history of back problems, and the team seems confident he will not be sidelined long. Berry will compete with fellow outfielders Steve Pearce, Delmon Young, Nolan Reimold and Henry Urrutia for the fourth outfield spot behind Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, and David Lough.

Meanwhile, relief pitcher Brian Matusz is scheduled to travel to Philadelphia later this week to have a wart removed from his throwing hand on his index finger. The procedure is not serious and Matusz had a similar wart removed in 2011.

Matusz is fully expected to be recovered in less than a week, and will be able to resume pitching after thriving as one of Baltimore’s setup men last season to the tune of a 3.53 ERA and a K/BB ratio over 3.

ORIOLES IN FAVOR OF RULE CHANGE ON COLLISIONS

Earlier this week, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association officially negotiated a new rule to prevent unnecessarily hard collisions at the plate. The Orioles seem to be behind the rule, as both manager Buck Showalter and catcher Matt Wieters have spoken out in supporting it.

“The big thing we are trying to eliminate—and I wholeheartedly support it—is the cheap shot collision,” said Showalter, who attended meetings last week to go over the new rule. “Guy’s completely exposed, doesn’t have the ball and some guy hunts him. We’ve had it happen with Matt a few times. If you remember, we were real unhappy about it.”

“I’ve been fortunate,” Wieters said on Monday. “I’ve gotten lucky a few times, really, that I never got hurt worse than I did. There are always going to be catchers who want to leave it on the field. You want to be strong for your team.

“You know, we’re not just talking about missing a season with an injury. You’re talking about a couple head-to-head collisions, and you could have quote a difficult time functioning later in life.”

The new rule change should help prevent injuries like the one to San Francisco Giants backstop Buster Posey in 2011. Wieters has seen his fair share of collisions over the years, and also added that the rule change was not only to protect catchers.

“You know, catchers don’t want to see runners getting hurt either. So you want to be able to protect the runner too.”

HARDY, MARKAKIS WANT TO REMAIN IN BALTIMORE

2014 is scheduled to be the last season of the current contract for shortstop JJ Hardy, and will likely be the final year of right fielder Nick Markakis’ contract as well, as the team is unlikely to pick up his expensive option for 2015. However, neither Hardy nor Markakis has any plans of leaving Baltimore, and both are interested in extensions following this season with the team.

Hardy has enjoyed his previous three seasons in Baltimore, winning multiple gold gloves and hitting over 20 home runs in all three years. Hardy told ESPN earlier this week that he planned to meet with his agent soon to discuss the future. And while Hardy joked that the Yankees may need a shortstop after their current one retires “or something” after this year, he said he’d prefer to stay in Baltimore. “I’ll say, and I’ve said it a lot, that I’ve really enjoyed my time here,” Hardy said. “I like playing here.”

Markakis has spent his entire career with the Orioles and has made it even clearer where he wants to be after this season. “I tell people all the time, I’ve made a good bit of money already,” Markakis said earlier this month. It’s not about the money, it’s about being somewhere, wanting to be somewhere, being comfortable and taking pride with that team and that organization.”

Markakis is focused on staying healthy this season to prove that his down 2013 season is not a reason for concern. “A lot of people play this game for the wrong reasons,” he added. “A lot of people play it where the money is. I get a bigger satisfaction being with the same team your whole career. Not many people get to do that.”