The Orioles have reached a six-year, $66.1 million contract extension with right fielder Nick Markakis, according to baseball sources. He will be in Baltimore tomorrow to take a physical and sign the contract.
The deal, pending the physical, will keep one of the organization's building blocks with the Orioles through at least the 2014 season. It will include standard incentive clauses, a limited no-trade clause - in which he can block a deal to at least eight teams each year - and a mutual option with an unspecified team buyout for the 2015 season, according to sources.
In terms of guaranteed money, it will be the second-most expensive contract in Orioles history, behind only the six-year, $72 million pact given to shortstop Miguel Tejada in December 2003.
"I'm really not at liberty to discuss [where the negotiations are]," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said yesterday.
MacPhail said Sunday that the two sides were close to a deal but "not quite there yet." Team officials traditionally don't comment on a deal until the physical is completed and the contract has been signed.
Jamie Murphy, Markakis' agent, declined to comment yesterday, and Markakis, 25, didn't return phone calls. The Orioles are planning for a news conference, likely Thursday, to announce the deal.
Both sides had hoped to reach an agreement by today, when agents and teams report arbitration figures to the commissioner's office. Markakis is in his first year of arbitration. The two sides will still exchange numbers because the deal won't be official before Markakis passes a physical, but the figures will become moot by week's end.
Pitched around often last season, Markakis hit .306 with 20 home runs and 87 RBIs. He set career highs in batting average, runs (106), doubles (48), walks (99), on-base percentage (.406) and slugging percentage (.491). He led the majors with 17 outfield assists.
Markakis, whom the Orioles drafted seventh overall in 2003, is a .299 hitter with 59 homers and 261 RBIs over three seasons with the team.
The news of his imminent extension was well received by Markakis' teammates.
"Every dollar that he gets, I think he deserves it," center fielder Adam Jones said. "The guy puts up numbers. He's a great defensive player, great in the clubhouse. I'm happy that the Orioles locked him up. He just got married, has a baby on the way. I'm happy as hell for him."
