Duquette on arbitration-eligibles, Cruz, Markakis and more

The Orioles aren't expected to take their decisions on their arbitration-eligible players down to the midnight deadline tonight as they did in 2013.

Executive vice president Dan Duquette said he's hoping to "bring this to closure by the end of the business day." Meanwhile, it's OK to keep speculating that all 11 players will be tendered contracts for next season.

Trade discussions always heat up on the final day, but the Orioles don't seem as likely to make a move. They dealt closer Jim Johnson to the Athletics for infielder Jemile Weeks shortly before last year's deadline, rather than risk paying him $10 million in arbitration.

"The players we're talking about, they all have value," Duquette said.

The Orioles valued outfielder Nelson Cruz, but not enough to give him a four-year deal. Cruz reached agreement yesterday with the Mariners.

"Nelson Cruz had a nice year for us," Duquette said. "He did a nice job and helped us accomplish a number of things - winning the division and advancing in the playoffs. We appreciate his contributions to the team. He did well and he had a great year.

"In free agency, there's always a premium and we were focused on a three-year commitment. Nelson got four from another team. Obviously, he took it and we wish him a lot of luck and appreciate the work he did here. The team is going to get a first-round pick and he helped us accomplish a number of things this year, which we appreciate."

Nick Markakis could be the next outfielder out the door, but Duquette said the club will try to re-sign its longest-tenured player. He said the Orioles are still "in on" Markakis, who is drawing interest from a handful of teams, including the Braves.

"I'm not going to handicap it," Duquette said, "but we're still in discussions with Nick."

The shopping list hasn't really changed with the Winter Meetings approaching on Monday, though there's probably more emphasis on finding another outfielder. The bullpen remains a priority.

"We still have a very good core group here and we're going to continue to build our team so that we can be competitive," said Duquette, who earlier today was named Baseball America's Major League Executive of the Year. "I look more at the guys we've got and we're going to continue to add to that. But we do have an established pitching staff. We have rotation and bullpen depth.

"We've got a catcher, we've got a first baseman, we've got a second baseman, we've got a shortstop, we've got a third baseman. They can all hit. We've also got a center fielder and we have to look for outfield depth, as well.

"We're on it."