According to Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles’ contract extension talks with Nick Markakis are on hold and probably will not be revisited for at least six weeks.
The Orioles are looking to sign Markakis for his three arbitration years as well as at least three of free agency. Markakis would like to observe the free agent market before resuming talks with the Orioles. Perhaps Markakis and his agent plan to value his free agent years based on the contracts for players like Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu.
