BALTIMORE — J.J. Hardy signed a three-year contract with the Orioles on Thursday night, the eve of Baltimore’s first appearance in the AL Championship Series since 1997.
The contract comes with an option for 2018. Terms were not released. His current deal expires at the end of this season.
Hardy has been a fixture at shortstop for the Orioles since 2011, playing solid defense and providing decent hitting in a lineup filled with sluggers.
Although he hit only nine homers this season, Hardy totaled 77 long balls over the previous three years and won Gold Gloves in 2012 and 2013.
The 32-year-old Hardy batted .268 with 52 RBI in 141 games during the regular season, then went 3 for 10 in Baltimore’s three-game sweep of Detroit in the AL Division Series.
In the field, he ranked second among AL shortstops with 99 double plays turned, was third in fielding percentage (.978) and assists (394), and fifth in putouts (187).
Hardy is a two-time All-Star, in 2007 with Milwaukee and last year as a member of the Orioles.
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