J.J. Hardy and Orioles agree to three year contract extension

[Invader3K]

Reportedly worth $7-8 million per year.

Also includes limited no trade protection, reportedly, so we can probably scrap any thoughts of Melvin trading for him at this point.

[logan82]

Not a bad deal for either side. Not really surprising either. I believe the Orioles have some good minor league talent so they might be in on Fielder next year.

[davego]

Wow, 21-24 millon for JJ. Good for him. Not sure If I'd want to make that deal given he is coming off 2.5 years of being not so hot. granted he has played quite well this year. Hope it works out for both.

[JoeHova]

Good for JJ that he finally found a team that apparently wants him. I think it was a bad move financially though. He surely would have easily beat that contract on the open market if he stayed healthy the last 2.5 months of the season.

[crewcrazy]

Happy for J.J., happy that the O's get to keep a good player, but not so sure it's wise to guarantee Hardy three years when he hasn't proven he can stay healthy.

[joepepsi]

logan3825 wrote: I believe the Orioles have some good minor league talent so they might be in on Fielder next year.

They really don't. They have 4-5 well rated pitching prospects and tried to plug them all into the rotation this year: Matusz, Britton, Arrieta, Tillman, Bergeson, Patton. Patton and Bergeson have failed. Tillman can't throw strikes in the majors, Matusz and Britton were recently sent back to the minors, though both look to be very good. Arrieta has been all right, but struggles with command as well.

 

The rest of the minors is completely bereft of talent. Andy MacPhail is overrated at GM.

 

I'm surprised Hardy would sign on with the Orioles. This team is at least 2 more years away from producing a winning record.

[pebadger]

JJ's at the point in his career (given both his past and projections of his future) where 20+ million guaranteed probably overrides calcualtions of the probability that he'll be on a contending team. And there is no guarantee that he won't be (thought it is extraordinarily unlikely in that division).

[jjfanec]

Buying high on a player is a dangerous thing and that is what the Orioles just did. Hardy is coming off a couple poor years and has been bad minus one great month this year. JJ had an OPS of .695, .685, and .504 in April, May and July. His June OPS 1.094 seems to be the aberration. He is great when he is hot but he has not been hot most of the year. He was a great sell high candidate but the Orioles decided to buy high instead.

 

I am a Hardy fan but if the Brewers would have traded for him and signed him to a 3 year deal I would not have been very happy.

[The Truth]

He is great when he is hot but he has not been hot most of the year. He was a great sell high candidate but the Orioles decided to buy high instead.

A small sample example of why the O's remain entrenched at or near last place year after year

[chadomac]

Not a smart move for the Orioles. Based on his track record, you'll be lucky to get 1.5 seasons of healthy baseball from him. Also, the Orioles are loaded at SS in the minors, if I recall. I guess they could use them for trade chips now.

[pitchleague]

good for JJ. However, I thought the Orioles had an up-and-coming SS taken in last year's draft #3 overall Manny Machado. Is he not doing as well as expected? I know he's only 19 or 20 or so but I figured they wanted him up in a year or two. I guess that would "work" with this Hardy contract after all. never mind.

[RoseBowlMtg]

Good for JJ. He's been moved from his last two places because of a better alternative. The Brewers have moved on from that choice and Minne's guy has been not as good as JJ. 2 errors and 13 HR's looks pretty good at SS. Baltimore likes JJ so much they moved him to leadoff after batting him late for so long. Go gettum!

[liveforoctober]

Good for JJ. Always liked him ... wished he was back here.

I still think Baltimore is the ultimate landing spot for Prince and having JJ at short is only going to enhance the "offer" they can give him.

[joepepsi]

Machado just turned 19 a couple weeks ago. He's probably two years at least from the majors. By that time they could move Hardy to 3rd, or if he continues to play well and stay healthy, he won't be too expensive to trade.

 

In the end it's probably not a bad move for the Orioles. They are really short on major league caliber players, so the 3 year deal helps solve that issue.

[endaround]

Yeah but they are like a -100 run differential team with 70 games to play. The Red Sox and the Yankees are like +100 run differential teams. Not cashing Hardy in for prospects makes little sense.

[rluzinski]

Buying high on a player is a dangerous thing and that is what the Orioles just did.

The Orioles are paying Hardy a little less than what an average player makes on the open market. Assuming he is still an above average defensive SS, he doesn't have to hit well at all in order to be worth that. I think both Hardy and the Oriloes know he isn't expected to continue to SLG .490.

[DuWayne Steurer]

If Hardy plays his usual solid D, and stays on the field for 140 games, and just puts up even a .750-ish OPS, he'll be worth the contract. My concern wouldn't be either the bat or the glove though, it would be keeping him on the field.

[Warning Track Power]

Good for JJ. Always liked him ... wished he was back here.

I still think Baltimore is the ultimate landing spot for Prince and having JJ at short is only going to enhance the "offer" they can give him.

100% agree. They pushed so hard for Teixeira that I think they will push harder for Prince and end up with him. Makes it easy to root for Baltimore.

 

As for JJ, I really wanted him back in Milwaukee and it stinks that he won't be. My favorite of the Baby Brewers with Braun, Weeks, Fielder, Hart & Hardy. I would have given him that deal in a heartbeat especially with Prince coming off the books. Was very underrated and underappreciated during his time in Milwaukee.

 

 

[jjfanec]

I think people forget how loved JJ was when he was here. When people say he was underrated I think they forget how highly people valued him. I can remember threads comparing him to the best SS in the game. He had one good year, one very good year, two bad years and an injury shortened season. Considering those results I think we valued him pretty highly. I really liked him as a player and I would have liked for him to come back. Unlike others I would not have liked that contract for a guy who is so hot and cold.

[RoseBowlMtg]

Here are the stats for the SS's for the Crew who came after JJ vs JJ's numbers this year:

 

 

 

Player: AB, R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, CS, BB, K, ave, obp, ops

 

Escobar: 506,57,119,14,10,4,41,10,4,36,70,.235,.288,.614

Betanct: 311,28, 74, 14, 2, 5,30, 3, 2, 9, 30, .238,.256,.600

 

Hardy: 255,36, 71, 15, 0,13,34, 0, 0,21, 48, .278,.335,.825

 

Tot vs JJ:817,85,193,28,12,9,71,13,6,45,100,.236,.275,.609

 

 

Injuries are the thing with JJ but 2 errors and more HR's than the last two SS's in 562 fewer AB's. Way to go JJ.

[Warning Track Power]

jjfanec[/b]]I think people forget how loved JJ was when he was here. When people say he was underrated I think they forget how highly people valued him. I can remember threads comparing him to the best SS in the game. He had one good year, one very good year, two bad years and an injury shortened season. Considering those results I think we valued him pretty highly. I really liked him as a player and I would have liked for him to come back. Unlike others I would not have liked that contract for a guy who is so hot and cold.

I can also remember people ready to get him as far out of Milwaukee as possible during his 2009 season, annointing Alcides as the 2nd coming of Ozzie Smith. I didn't understand the polarizing characteristic JJ had on some of the fan base. I definitely didn't like him being so deadset against batting 8th, but I thought his play was so steady in the field that it made us desensitized to how outstanding it was to have a high performing defender at that critical position.

 

Oh well. Life goes on. Gives me even more reason to be an O's fan in the AL East.

 

 

[Raw Biz]

Here are the stats for the SS's for the Crew who came after JJ vs JJ's numbers this year:

 

 

 

Player: AB, R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, CS, BB, K, ave, obp, ops

 

Escobar: 506,57,119,14,10,4,41,10,4,36,70,.235,.288,.614

Betanct: 311,28, 74, 14, 2, 5,30, 3, 2, 9, 30, .238,.256,.600

 

Hardy: 255,36, 71, 15, 0,13,34, 0, 0,21, 48, .278,.335,.825

 

Tot vs JJ:817,85,193,28,12,9,71,13,6,45,100,.236,.275,.609

 

 

Injuries are the thing with JJ but 2 errors and more HR's than the last two SS's in 562 fewer AB's. Way to go JJ.

Those are numbers for this year. If you looked at last year's numbers, JJ would look awful and Betancourt would look pretty decent (at least in terms of HR/RBI). Hardy has always had trouble staying healthy and I don't think I would've given him that contract. I think people also forget how bad he was the past couple of years (at least offensively).

[endaround]

Except he was still great defensively. He's being paid like a sub 2 win player. He can do that in a bad year. The bigger issue is that he doesn't do enough to help the Orioles in that division, not as much as trading him or getting picks would.

[RoseBowlMtg]

Make that 14 HR's and I know what you mean end but Hardy's bad year he had a .714 ops vs .600 and .614 for his replacements. Health is the issue with JJ but we are fired up about Betancourt 16 dingers last year and Hardy has 14 in less than half the AB's. I don't like to second guess since it is too easy but....

[bill hAll Star]

annointing Alcides as the 2nd coming of Ozzie Smith.

He's not anywhere near Ozzie yet, but he is #2 in UZR at this young age. Not bad. His hitting will never be anywhere near elite or even above-average but I think it is coming around a bit to the point where one can feel some confidence that it will improve.