Is it fair to lump Nick Markakis in with the growing collection of young players annoyed with their renewals? The Orioles gave Markakis a $55K raise up to $455K. He apparently wanted something north of $800K. That’s kind of how these "negotiations" go when one side has zero leverage aside from "unhappiness." Markakis didn’t whine about it. He said:
That’s just how the Orioles feel. I don’t have much of a choice. I’m just going to have to deal with it.
ESPN interpreted this quote to mean Markakis was "miffed" and "ticked." In the above-linked article, Dan Connolly writes, "Those close to him, however, say Markakis was angered by the end result."
While there is a growing trend of pre-arb players being annoyed over renewals, let’s not lump Markakis in with Prince Fielder and Cole Hamels. Markakis didn’t actually make any negative comments. Expressing discontent to close friends about one’s salary is something most people do.
