Hardy's Big Contract Before His Big Series
By Samuel Njoku
Hardy's Big Contract Before His Big Series
Hours before the beginning of the biggest series in J.J. Hardy's career, he agreed on a 3 year contract extension with the Baltimore Orioles. The deal is worth 40 million dollars and will keep him an Oriole until 2018. A few years ago Baltimore had trouble bringing in free agents as well as keeping their own. But with the success that they've had over the past 3 seasons, players want to stay.
"I knew that I liked it here and I liked playing with my teammates," Hardy told reporters on Thursday. "Bottom line, it comes down to winning. And I think we have a good thing here."
Showalter Wants Hardy To Stay
That may be an understatement as Baltimore remains 4 wins away from a World Series berth. Questions surrounded the future of Hardy with Baltimore after interest from teams including the Yankees surfaced. Couple that with the possibility of Manny Machado moving to his natural position at shortstop, and Hardy could have wore orange for the last time in 2014. But Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette had other plans.
"I hope J.J. ends his career here," stated Orioles manager Buck Showalter.
Hardy batted a .268 with 52 RBI's in 2014 and has so far batted a solid .300 so far this postseason.
Samuel Njoku was born and raised in Baltimore, MD and is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Samuel has covered the Ravens for Examiner.com since 2010. Prior to 2010, Samuel was an avid blogger and radio personality in Salisbury, MD. Samuel Njoku is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Ravens_Examiner.
