SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles announced Tuesday that they have agreed to contracts for 2014 with 19 players and renewed third baseman Manny Machado.
"We would have liked to re-sign everybody. We were not able to come to an agreement with Manny, but [players with zero to three years of service time], the club has the right to renew the player contract, so we did that," executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said. "Manny had a great year. The club appreciates the great year that he had and we're recognizing it -- that terrific year with a $100,00 bonus for the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award."
The bonus is separate from Machado's $519,000 contract, which is up from $495,000 in 2013. The raise is small, particularly considering how important the All-Star and Glove Glover is in the Orioles' success, and the 21-year-old didn't shy away from saying he wasn't happy with the way baseball handles players with less than three years of service time.
"It's something that, am I disappointed about the system? Yeah, but it's the system," Machado said. "I'm going to go out there and try to be healthy. Try to get out there as fast as possible, be the best teammate I can be and then be the best player I can be out there. And play for the fans, and play for the organization and play for the Orioles, and the people who root for me every day."
Machado's case is hardly anything new, with Angels superstar Mike Trout generating headlines last spring in the same fashion. The same thing happened to Orioles outfielders Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, and the club later rewarded them with extensions. Duquette said the Orioles visited extension talks with Machado last offseason, but the club didn't do so this winter with the emphasis on getting him fully recovered from left knee surgery and out on the field.
"Obviously we would like Manny to stay here," Duquette said of Machado, who they control through 2018. "Manny is going to stay with us for the foreseeable future, but beyond that, we would be interested in a longer-term relationship."
"I'd be up for it. I'm open to it," Machado said. "Nothing has come up yet. We'll see what happens."
The Orioles have not made any progress on extension talks for J.J. Hardy, Chris Davis or Matt Wieters, with Duquette saying the club's focus has been on constructing the current team.
In addition to Machado's renewal, 18 contracts were agreed upon: Brad Brach, Kevin Gausman, Miguel Gonzalez, Steve Johnson, Josh Stinson, Chris Tillman, Mike Belfiore, Tim Berry, Zach Britton, T.J. McFarland, Johnny Monell, Michael Ohlman, Michael Almanzar, Ryan Flaherty, Jonathan Schoop, Jemile Weeks, David Lough and Henry Urrutia
 
By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
Brittany Ghiroli is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, Britt's Bird Watch, and follow her on Twitter @britt_ghiroli. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
 

Leave a Reply