Jones on Markakis, Showalter and his latest charitable endeavor

Adam Jones returned from last night's Rawlings Gold Glove Award ceremony in New York with continued confidence that the Orioles will re-sign Nick Markakis, whose agent remains in negotiations with the club.

Jones, Markakis and shortstop J.J. Hardy received their awards last night.

"I've been speaking with him a lot," Jones said following today's dedication ceremony at the Westport Boys and Girls Club in Baltimore. "We've been friends for the last seven years. Man, time's flying.

"I talked to him about it and he said obviously Baltimore is the place he wants to be. It's a business and you have to treat it like a business. But at the end of the day, he's going to be in right field. That's my vision. That's how I see it.

"I'm not the one involved. That's his agent and Dan (Duquette). Those two have to do it. But to me, I can't look to my left and see ... Well, anybody can play anywhere, but it's been seven opening days having him to my left and it would probably be awkward at first, but he's going to be an Oriole. That's my vision, but I'm not Nostradamus."

Jones didn't try to predict whether Buck Showalter will be voted as American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America, the announcement coming Tuesday night on MLB Network.

"He's won it before, right?" Jones asked.

Showalter took home the award in 1994 with the Yankees and 2004 with the Rangers.

"Very deserving," Jones said. "I don't know what the voting criteria is, but if Buck doesn't fit that, I think there's something wrong with the process. His success, it's obviously on the field, it's what we do, but the manager obviously prepares us. The way he carries us is the way we go about our business. We present ourselves as a prepared team and we lead off our leader, Show.

"I think he's very deserving. If he doesn't get it, I'm sure he doesn't care. I'll hit him up, saying I know he deserves it, that's what I told him at the end of the year."

Jones has stayed in touch with Showalter and given his opinion of moves the club should make over the winter.

"I pitched my ideas to him," Jones said. "Like I say, I pitch."

Jones and the Orioles Charitable Foundation made a financial contribution of nearly $45,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Baltimore to completely remodel the Teen Center at the Boys and Girls Club Westport/Winans Homes Center. Jones took part in today's ceremony inside a packed room. He drew an impressive crowd of adults and young kids.

The Teen Center will encourage older members of the club to stay engaged and interested in the club and avoid some of the risks that can be presented outside of a safe environment. In addition to the improved Teen Center, the financial contribution from Jones and the Orioles Charitable Foundation will be used to purchase 12 new computers for the Westport/Winans Club's Technology Center to be utilized by all members of the club.

Last year, Jones and the Orioles made a $75,000 contribution to renovate the Brooklyn O'Malley Boys and Girls Club in Baltimore.

"It's pretty cool to see these kids and the opportunity they're about to get," Jones said. "They did this. They put in the time and effort. They paint and they get the room in order. They put in their due diligence and whenever you put your blood, sweat and tears into something, you're probably going to take care of it.

"That's the plan for this one. Take care of this center and utilize it and get ahead. The opportunities that they might not have at home, they might have here. They can come here. It's a safe haven. They can be around their friends. Clubs like this are always needed, so I'm glad I was able to improve this one.

"I've got four more years on my contract, so I've got four more projects."

The vision keeps growing.

"You see it in one neighborhood and you go back to it and you see that it's being used the right way, so next year I'm going to come back here and see how it's being utilized and then move on to the next project. Just check in periodically to make sure that it's being utilized the right way."

The bulk of Jones' charity work focuses on the city's youth.

"Education," Jones said. "Kids are our future. Kids are kids. We all were one at one time. And at our age, some of us still are, even though we're older. But it's about the youth, it's about the next generation, and it starts with getting in the minds of these 6 and 7 year olds. They're the ones that are coming up with these brilliant ideas and it's time to get a hold of them.

"I like the Boys and Girls Club. It's something that's dear to me due to the fact that I grew up in it, so it makes it easy to do it. It's giving back to what I know and how I envisioned how the Boys and Girls Club was.

"In San Diego, it was different, it was bigger, different space. It was a place my friends and I all met up after school. We all did our homework, then we all played and we all got ourselves into some trouble, and that's what the Boys and Girls Club and YMCA projects, that's what they're about, so giving back to these kids and letting them understand that there's people out there that really care about you in terms of education, your well-being, and these are the places that have always been safe havens for the youths."