SARASOTA, FLA. — Former Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis appeared to be striking out at the Orioles on Wednesday when he told USA Today about the contract dispute that led to sign a four-year deal with the Atlanta Braves.
"Don't believe a word they say," Markakis is quoted as saying. "It was all because of my neck. They can say what they want to make them look good. Don't believe anything they say. It's all B.S."
Obviously and understandably, Markakis is still frustrated with the club for failing to come through with a four-year deal to keep him in an Orioles uniform. But it's only fair to go back to the videotape -- or, in this case, The Baltimore Sun archives -- to see exactly what was being said at the time.
The fact that his neck was a big consideration was no secret, and Markakis acknowledged that in an interview with The Sun's Dan Connolly in mid-December after he signed with the Braves.
"I'm sure that [the neck MRI] had everything to do with it," Markakis said. "I've been doing this for a long time now, and I know when my body feels right and when it feels wrong and what I need to do. We've been talking to the doctors and there are no symptoms that I have now."
"I just felt confident that I would be able to get back in time. Whether or not that is the whole deal with why they didn't [sign me] or not, who knows?"
Later in that article, Markakis said he had no hard feelings toward the organization with which he had spent his entire professional career. The USA Today quote makes it sound like he does now, but Markakis has stayed in contact with members of the organization and sent a light-hearted text message to someone in the Orioles clubhouse as recently as Wednesday.
Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette acknowledged in the USA Today article that the Orioles were concerned about the bulging disk in Markakis' neck, but that was already a well-known fact.
Duquette said in a public Q&A in early December that the negotiations bogged down over one "concern" that was widely believed at the time -- and confirmed by a source in The Sun on Dec. 4 -- to be the neck problem.
That concern was validated when Markakis underwent neck surgery to remove the damaged disc and fuse two vertebrae soon after signing with the Braves. Markakis indicated at the time that he would be ready for the season. But he said Wednesday at Braves camp in Lake Buena Vista that, "neck surgery is pretty serious, so you don't want to rush it."
Perhaps the Orioles were not upfront enough with Markakis and his agent about the concerns during the dragging negotiations, but he seemed to know what was going on when he decided to take the four-year deal in Atlanta.
By some accounts, he was crushed that the Orioles allowed him to get away and may well blame Duquette for that. But it would be sad if that caused a long-standing rift with an organization that will be inducting him into its Hall of Fame in a few years.