Orioles announce decision on Hundley option

The other shoe dropped tonight.

The Orioles just confirmed that they declined the $5 million option on Nick Hundley's contract, making the veteran catcher a free agent.

Hundley made $4 million this season while batting .233/.273/.352 with four doubles, five home runs and 19 RBIs in 50 games with the Orioles. He threw out 5 of 27 (19 percent) runners attempting to steal after going 0-for-9 with the Padres.

I've heard that the Orioles would like to re-sign Hundley at a lesser cost, though they also retain Caleb Joseph and Steve Clevenger as potential backups to Matt Wieters. They also have Brian Ward at Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles acquired Hundley from the Padres on May 24 for left-hander Troy Patton, who's also a free agent.

Last night, the Orioles confirmed that they declined their portion of the $17.5 million option on Nick Markakis' contract. With Hundley joining him, they now have nine free agents on the market and 31 players on their 40-man roster.

The list of free agents is comprised of Markakis, Hundley, Alexi Casilla, Nelson Cruz, Kelly Johnson, Andrew Miller, Johan Santana, Joe Saunders and Delmon Young.

The Orioles continue to negotiate a multi-year deal with Markakis and the sides aren't far apart. Progress has been made, according to a source, and the club remains optimistic that an agreement will be reached.

That's been the expectation all along.

The Orioles aren't going to bother making a qualifying offer to Markakis. The focus remains on finalizing an extension for him and calculating all the raises due to their arbitration-eligible players.

Still to come: The Orioles are expected to make Cruz a qualifying offer within the next few days, which would give them a draft pick if he signs with another team. And they must activate catcher Matt Wieters and third baseman Manny Machado from the 60-day disabled list, which would give them 33 players on the 40-man roster.