The Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles have begun contract extension talks with shortstop J.J. Hardy, who has hit brilliantly so far this season, with a .307 average, .369 on-base percentage and a .547 slugging percentage in 50games. Most of that production has come in a brilliant month of June, in which Hardy has nine homers.
Orioles, J.J. Hardy Talking Contract Extension
Talks haven’t gotten serious to this point, but that should change as the Orioles get closer to the July 31 trade deadline. With the struggles of veterans Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero, Hardy has emerged as arguably the Orioles’ biggest trade chip as several contenders, including the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants, could be looking for a shortstop upgrade.
Hardy should be tremendously valuable in this trade market, should the O’s choose to deal him - he has been the best-hitting shortstop in baseball this side of Jose Reyes, and as the Sun suggests, shortstops who can hit aren’t exactly growing on trees right now. He should also fetch a pretty penny on the free agent market if he keeps hitting, since he’s young enough (he’ll be 29 in August) that teams can dream that they’ll get a couple more peak years if they sign him.
The Orioles have a reasonably strong core of young pitching, but they’re currently 35-42 and are a long way from proving they can hang with the big boys in the ultra-competitive A.L. East. It’s not clear if re-signing Hardy would be the best decision, given that they would be buying high by signing him now - he’s not nearly as good as his ultra-hot June suggests. But the O’s are probably right to sort through their options with him before the trade deadline, rather than after.
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